Life After Death: Shepard's Journals
by Sun-Tsu Toriden
Summary: (ABANDONED after Chapter 18) We all know what Shepard has done and said during the events of Mass Effect 2. But does anyone know what she really thinks? Delve further into the mind of Illyria Shepard as she writes down her thoughts in her journal. Some swearing, violence, Shep/Liara
1. Prologue: The Long Sleep

Life after Death: Shepard's Journals

Prologue – The Long Sleep

April 9, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

In orbit around Omega

People say a lot of things about life and death. They say that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. They say you can achieve enlightenment. They say that time slows down, allowing you to think days worth of thoughts in mere seconds. They say death is painless. They say that people who have near-death experiences see a tunnel with a bright light at the end. Some take this as evidence of an afterlife.

I don't know any of those people, but I can tell you, that they are all wrong. I can't speak for all circumstances, but I do have experience with death. After all, I'm the only person in human history to have been dead and brought back to life. And I don't mean people on operating tables who have their heart stop for a few minutes. I don't care what any medical professional says; they are still alive until total organ shutdown. I was dead for over 2 years, and it took more credits than a small nation to bring me back to 'life', if you want to call it that. I don't even know what I am anymore.

I've died, and it wasn't anything like what people say about it. It was a slow death by asphyxia. There wasn't any of that life-flashing, no enlightenment, no change in the flow of time. All I remember thinking is 'Oh god, not like this.' Then I lost consciousness. I think I dreamed a feeling of heat, probably my body entering Alchera's atmosphere. And then nothing. No afterlife, no dreaming, just falling into a sleep and never waking up.

Apparently, it was lucky I was wearing my armour when the _Normandy_ was attacked. We'd been prepared for quick action at the time I recall. If I hadn't, I wouldn't be here to write this. The armour reduced complete vaporisation to merely burning away all the skin and severely damaging everything underneath.

I don't know what happened after that, I was dead. Somehow, my body was given over to Cerberus. Not my first choice, but then again, I wasn't really in a position to decide. I definitely don't like what they've done in the past, and I really don't agree with their overall position, but they have done two things right by me so far: they brought me back to life, and they gave me a chance to finish what I started. It's not much compared to what I know they've done, but it's enough for me to work with them, for now.

I don't know what exactly they did to me, but I know most of it was experimental. They had to entirely reconstruct my skeleton, since it pretty much every bone shattered on impact. I'm amazed that my brain was mostly intact, my heart as well, but they had to be cybernetically implanted, along with most of my central nervous system. Most of the rest of my soft organs had to be cloned though, and they probably had problems getting enough tissue to clone them from. I was told that I didn't have any skin left to clone, so it was replaced with a cybernetic-organic dermal replacement; lab grown skin. It works just the same, and it can be engineered so it has the same DNA as the patient. Most of my muscles have some form of cybernetics implanted in them, as well as most of my reflex and optical nerves, all routed through a control unit near the base of my spine; which means I can react and move faster than a normal human. Not much, but a significant improvement. All this took over 2 years, just to get me from a permanent death to something approaching a coma.

Huh, I just remembered a line from an old film. That's right, film, not vid. It's over 200 years old, but it seems funny to me now. Did you ever hear of Star Wars? Big series of films back in the late 1900s and early 2000s. Completely changed the way visual effects are used in films back in the day. Anyway, one of the first ones, one of the characters talks about a guy called Darth Vader. Describes him as "more machine now than man, twisted and evil." I don't know about evil, but I do feel twisted, and I'm not entirely human anymore.

Hell of a way to end up after a long sleep, but nothing compared to the wake up call.

~o000o~

**A/N:** Hello those of you at home. A few things I would like to make clear:

1) None of this would be possible without the peerless beta-ing of my good friend and fellow FF author medusalan. She has her own stories I suggest you check them out, not Mass Effect but that's not necessarily a bad thing!

2) I live and breathe on comments, and love to here feedback and constructive criticism, so please leave both.

3) As you continue you will find that these become less like chapters and more like mini-epics. Some chapters will have descriptive violence. Some will deal with deep personal the psychological issues. Please remember that this story is my own take on the events of Mass Effect, and I will use creative licence, sometimes more than others.


	2. One Hell Of A Wake Up

Chapter 1 – One Hell of a Wake-up

April 9, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

In orbit around Omega

I'm amazed any of it worked. I woke up once, ahead of schedule apparently. Don't remember much except Miranda yelling at the apparent traitor Wilson before I blacked out again. Then I wake up again, my body in pain all over, open scars of recent cybernetic surgery still glowing on my face. They don't glow anymore, but I can still feel them under my skin. Still feels weird, knowing it's not actually my skin.

I wake up and find a new set of armour and a gun. The armour goes on quick, like it was fitted to me. The gun was new though. Looked just a standard handgun, but apparently technology moves a lot in two years. I tried an experimental trigger pull and got nothing. There was a flashing indicator on the side of the gun showing 'Thermal Clip Not Inserted.' The voice of Miranda over the intercom lead me to some on the ground outside. It looked pretty much straightforward, so I inserted one into a likely looking spot. The indicator now showed '12/0.' I inserted more until the slot was full, the indicator now showing '12/60'

I didn't have any time to ponder, as there were hostiles approaching. I took cover and blasted them all, quick shots to the head where I could. They were tough enough, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I didn't have any idea where I was, so I just followed the increasingly static-filled transmissions from Miranda, blasting apart any mechs in my way and picking up a grenade launcher to boot.

Then I met Jacob, who pulled up a mech with a biotic field just as the door opened. I ducked into cover beside him. I wasn't in a mood to play 20 questions, I was in combat mode. I was feeling better, so I decided to see if whatever was done to me affected my biotics.

I tried out a shockwave. I swapped the pistol to my left hand, raising my right arm up and out. My eyes opened a little in shock; whatever else they had done to me, whoever they were, they definitely outfitted me with a new implant. I had never before felt so much power with my own biotics. After quickly dispatching the mechs, I felt it was time for questions. Jacob seemed as surprised as I was to see me awake. But he also seemed honest enough, and he answered all my questions. He told me that I had been dead for over two years, most of it spent on the operating table to change that particular condition. Billions of credits, top scientists, and still I was only just awake and running. He told me that most of the crew of the _Normandy_ survived, save for some servicemen from the lower decks and some of the crew. All of the crew I had left from my last mission against Saren were alive, or at least escaped alive. I asked him who he was. He apparently was ex-Alliance, so I took a better liking to him immediately. The markings on his armour weren't any I could identify, but private militaries and mercenaries were all the rage for companies operating in space. He told me it was a good idea to get to the shuttles, and I was tending to agree. We were about to move when Wilson called out over the radio.

We decided to move in quickly, as he sounded kind of urgent. Jacob was suspicious, but we moved anyway. We found him shortly afterwards. He'd been shot and was bleeding onto the floor. There was a medi-gel dispenser on the wall nearby, so I grabbed it and applied it to his leg. The bleeding stopped quickly, but he was still limping for a little while. Jacob asked some pointed questions, and Wilson dodged them, but Jacob still didn't seem satisfied.

There wasn't time for any more arguments, mechs burst through the door. Wilson overloaded an explosive crate, taking them all out. We were almost out the door when Jacob told me to stop; he seemed troubled. He and Wilson argued about telling me something, before Jacob blurted out that he, Wilson, and this whole facility were part of Cerberus. So apparently I had been re-animated by an organisation that in my previous life, I had hunted down with vengeance for performing monstrous experiments and killing anyone who asked too many questions. I was on Akuze when the thresher maws hit. I saw the insane, homicidal rachni they stole from Noveria. I found Admiral Kohoku's corpse, and those of his men also hit by threshers. I killed Dr Wayne when I found out that Corporal Toombs could have easily been myself. Needless to say, I nearly pulled my gun on him then and there. Unfortunately, being stranded in an unknown station full of hostile mechs after having just woken from two years being dead, I needed help.

I didn't like it, I needed help - not just any help but _their_ help. So I continued, expecting at any moment a shot in the back, despite Jacob's assurances against it. I came across a recording made by Miranda as we made out way to the shuttles, and I didn't much care for it. It talked about me as 'salvageable,' not a term you really want to hear in context with your corpse. It seemed the more I learned about Miranda, the more cold and ruthless she seemed. I even learned she wanted to implant me with a control chip, and immediately disliked her.

We finally made it to the shuttles and Wilson seemed anxious to get away. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he opened the door, someone was already waiting for him: Miranda. She took one look at him, snarled, and shot him. I drew my gun instantly, in case she took any ideas about shooting me. She looked at me appraisingly and coldly, before telling me to lower my weapon. After seeing her shoot someone in cold blood, I wasn't jumping to comply. She lowered her own, seeing if that changed my mind. I shouted something about questioning him, and Jacob added questions about if Wilson was capable of what she was accusing him of. She just smiled and looked down at her latest kill and said, almost proudly, "Not anymore."

I wasn't keen on going anywhere with these people, but then Miranda reminded me that I didn't have a whole lot of choice. I voiced my concern about any other survivors, and Miranda just ignored them as she got in. Jacob gave me an apologetic look, before getting in after Miranda. I thought quickly, before giving in and holstering my weapon. I got in, but I made sure that I was facing both of them, my weapon easily accessible.

Miranda asked me questions, questions I didn't like answering. About my past, a subject I didn't like discussing with her since we both knew that Cerberus was involved in the Akuze incident. She also brought up the mission to Virmire, where I had to let one of my crewmates die. I didn't like the fact that I left Kaidan Alenko to die while I rescued Ashley Williams, decisions no commander should have to make. They asked about after the Battle of the Citadel, who I endorsed for Humanity's new seat on the Council. I replied truthfully that I backed David Anderson, the man who risked everything for me. There was no way I was going to back Donnel Udina, the man who used me as a stepping stone when convenient, and stabbed me in the back as soon as that was convenient as well.

I was tired of questions after that, and Jacob came to my defence, to my surprise. He asked Miranda to stop, which I was slightly grateful for. I asked Miranda where we were going, and she radiated that aura that other commanders can just sense. It was one that said 'I'm in command here, respect me.' Miranda didn't give me any answers, just told me we were going to meet their boss.

I didn't relish the prospect.


	3. The Progress of Freedom

Chapter 2 – The Progress of Freedom

April 9, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

In orbit around Omega

So after a few hours in the shuttle, we arrived at another space facility. Apparently, this was where I would meet their boss, known simply as the 'Illusive Man'. Both Miranda and Jacob were keen on me talking to him; they seemed to have something weighing down on them. Miranda pointed to a room at the bottom of a set of stairs, but wasn't going to join me. So I went down.

The room itself wasn't much, no cameras, no windows, no lights, just a metal circle on the floor. Nothing was really self-evident, so I stood in the circle. Something happened immediately, an orange grid of holographic light coming out of the floor. When it got to the ceiling, the grid filled with an image of a viewing balcony on a different space station, the background filled with a nearby star. Silhouetted by the star was a man sitting on a chair, smoking a cigarette.

I asked him why this wasn't a face-to-face meeting like it had been implied, and he just shrugged it off as a 'necessary precaution'. I wondered, if he was doing this to me, then how many people had actually met him in person? If it was possible for me to trust him less, I did so then. I was told that while I'd been gone, human colonies had been disappearing, usually in remote systems outside Alliance space. An odd move for a raid- the bigger colonies inside Alliance space would be more lucrative. But then the Alliance and the Council would have done something. The Illusive Man told me that the Alliance blamed pirates and slavers, which are plentiful in the Terminus systems, and that the battle with Sovereign had stretched them too far to properly investigate.

He then told me about the latest colony to go missing: Freedom's Progress. He suspected Reaper involvement, or someone working with the Reapers, but needed proof. He assured me that if my investigation found nothing, then Cerberus and I could part ways after that. I voiced my concerns about working with Miranda and Jacob, as neither of them had earned any gold stars from me for trustworthiness. He merely dismissed them, saying that they had done exactly what he had expected of them, before cutting off any further questions by closing the comm. channel. I looked sceptically at the spot where his image had been, sure that even if I didn't find anything at Freedom's Progress, he wouldn't just let me walk away. You don't bring someone back from the dead just to have them leave.

Heading back towards Miranda and Jacob, I noticed an armour locker. I went to it and found something waiting for me- a modular suit of armour, as well as a note from the Illusive Man. Basically, it said that his techs recently perfected this armour, and he had gifted it to me for it's first field run. I checked the specs quickly, and it was much better than the current suit that I had put on in the medlab. I quickly donned the parts I could use, but I didn't like having a helmet I couldn't actually see out of, before coming out to find them both waiting.

I tried talking to Miranda first, but she wasn't really in a chatty mood. I asked her straight up what her problem was with me. She told me that she respected my abilities and experience, but she had serious concerns about my motivations and loyalty. I wasn't really impressed by her attitude, but I respected her beliefs. She sounded like she had complete faith in Cerberus and the Illusive Man, which is a powerful thing to have. I knew after I finished our little conversation that she would definitely be one to look out for in the knife-in-back department, but if I could get her on my side, she would be an invaluable ally.

Jacob was easier to talk to, as at least he felt a little more human in his responses. He apologised for making me think he was a liar, and told me that he really had been in the Alliance, part of the Corsair initiative that turned out to be a waste of time and money. He'd gotten sick of the red tape, and had been headhunted by Cerberus. He told me that he doesn't agree with everything they do, but overall their position of strengthening humanity was one that struck a cord with him. He also told me that he believed in Cerberus, and that he wanted to earn my trust in their cause as well. I was surprised at how honest he sounded- either it was true, or he's the galaxy's greatest liar. I told him that I didn't trust or like Cerberus, Miranda or him. However I was willing to give them one chance, and only one chance, to prove themselves worth working alongside.

I caught Miranda's eye as she walked over, and the three of us made our way towards the shuttle. Before we got in, I handed Miranda a blank datapad I had picked up, telling her to put on it a complete technical readout on my new body. She looked like she was about to tell me it was classified for a second, but then she caught the look in my eye and a strange look came over her face for a second that might have been empathy. Then she just nodded and walked over to a nearby terminal, booting up her omni-tool and transferring files. After about a minute, she walked back over and handed me the datapad, before getting in the shuttle behind Jacob. I got in and the door closed behind us, Miranda giving the autopilot instructions on how to get us to Freedom's Progress. After she was done, she came back in, telling us that we had about 4 hours before we got there.

I spent most of that time going through the datapad that Miranda had filled for me. She had given me most of the files associated with Project Lazarus, and it was extensive. I skipped most of the early photos and logs, not really needing or wanting to see what my dead body had looked like. They'd given up after about 6 months of trying to just reconstruct what was left, and had moved on to bio-synthetic fusion. They'd grown skin from my DNA, since there wasn't any left on my body. Muscles and nerves were heavily augmented with metal meshes and conduits, bone structure improved with various cybernetic enhancements, internal organs cloned, biotic nodules refined and streamlined with my nervous system, and my old L3 implants removed and replaced with the L5n model, which amped up power and reduced the amount of concentration needed to use biotics. My brain tissue was mostly intact, but there had been a lot of cybernetic work done there- both to get it functioning again and to coordinate my biological functions with the cybernetic ones. I finally had an appreciation of how far Cerberus had gone to bring me back, and I was impressed despite myself.

I was just reading the section about other improvements that could be done now that I was awake when Jacob spoke. He and Miranda hadn't said two words since we'd gotten on the shuttle, Miranda opting to sleep and Jacob just staring out at the energy wash of our shuttle in FTL. He asked me if I had any last-minute questions. I asked him what we were likely to find and he replied that the previous colonies were like ghost towns, every person missing, and no real clues since looters and salvage teams had gotten there before official investigators sometimes. Miranda had an odd look on her face, and I asked her if she was uncomfortable with me being in command of the mission. She replied that Cerberus and the Illusive Man didn't bring me back to second guess me, but her tone of voice and the look in her eyes suggested she had personal reservations. Before there was time for me to probe further, the shuttle touched down on Freedom's Progress, and our investigation began.

My first thought on hitting the ground: this was Eden Prime all over again, minus the bodies. The silence was almost oppressive, and the air was unnaturally still. We walked our way through several of the buildings, Jacob said that it looked like everyone just got up halfway through a meal, and Miranda noted the lack of any signs of a struggle, anywhere. Things only got more nostalgic for me when the security mechs powered up and started shooting.

I blasted my way through them and even got to try out something I'd been itching to do since I had read about my new biotic implants. Back before I was dead, I had briefly participated in an Alliance study developing new techniques for biotics. One of then was a 'charge' for getting into short-range combat. I say briefly, because at the time it because quickly apparent that the L3 implants didn't produce enough power to make it an effective manoeuvre. But the advances in technology, made possible thanks to new research conducted in coordination with an asari research team, mean that the new L5n and L5x implants have a significantly larger power boost, even more powerful than L2 biotics, without any of the side-effects.

I tried it, clapping my arms out in front of me like a gloating villain. In a word, it was incredible. A rush of speed as the world blurred purple and I sped like the wind towards my target. I crashed into the mech shoulder first, the shockwave of the sudden displacement of air and mass effect fields quickly exploding around me, turning it as solid as armour and sending the light robot flying.

After we took out a small party of mechs, Jacob went into detective mode. He said that the mechs should have recognised us as human, that someone had to have reprogrammed them. In short, someone was still alive here. Finding that person became our new priority. Well, it was, until I opened the next door to find myself staring down the wrong end of a gun barrel. A gun barrel held in a quarian hand.

It took me less time than I could blink before I had my own pointed at him. But before either of us did something they would regret, a voice that had serious overtones of commander told him to lower his weapon. The commander had their back to me, tending to a wounded quarian on the floor. To tell the truth, I'd never heard another quarian speak, but I recognised the voice instantly. My suspicions were confirmed a second later as Tali turned towards me and did a double-take. She sounded so shocked to see me alive, wondering if I was real. I proved my identity by telling her something no clone or impostor would know- the geth data I gave her for her Pilgrimage.

The other quarian, Prazza if I remember correctly, put his gun away, but didn't do it willingly. Tali, as ever, was the voice of reason, putting him in his place. Prazza scoffed when it came out that Cerberus brought me back to life, and Tali came to my defence, saying it was money well spent. She then shed some light on who our survivor was, a young quarian on Pilgrimage called Veetor. He'd activated the mechs when the quarians had landed just before us. He apparently wasn't exactly mentally stable to begin with, and a traumatic shock and possible infection had probably only made it worse for him. Tali suggested that we work together to secure him before he hurt any more of us or himself, but Prazza was dead against working with Cerberus. Tali reminded him that he was under her command for this mission, so he'd do as he's ordered.

I didn't know what had happened between Cerberus and the Migrant Fleet for him to feel this way. Prazza said Cerberus had killed quarians, tried to blow up one of their ships and put the whole fleet at risk. Miranda replied that she wouldn't have put it like that. I looked askance at her and wondered just how she would have put it, and put another mark in the 'why am I working with her' column. Jacob didn't say anything, and he was hard to read, but he looked like he thought along similar lines to Miranda on the subject. I put all this aside and then told Tali she could count on us to help find Veetor. She thanked me, and expressed her gladness that I was still the one calling the shots.

The teams split from there, heading towards the loading dock where Veetor was last seen. I'll admit, that while I was blasting away mechs and drones that were getting in my way, it felt good to see Tali again, and see that she'd done well after returning to the fleet. She was in command of her own squad, something I always knew she could do. All those happy thoughts ended when Tali's voice broke out over the radio. Apparently, Prazza trusted Cerberus less than I do, and decided to move ahead and take Veetor before I could get to him. Unfortunately for him, Veetor had activated an YMIR mech, and those are serious business.

We arrived on the scene to find Tali taking cover, and what remained of Prazza's squad being filled with holes by the heavy cannon on the mech's arm. We took cover quickly, Miranda and I opting for SMGs while Jacob tightened his grip on his shotgun. My heads-up displayed all the critical information on the attacker, which showed all its weak points, as well as readings on shield strength and armour thickness. We focused on the shields first, Miranda and I using our SMGs and overload attacks to weaken its shields. After the shields were down, I switched over to my shotgun while Miranda took out her heavy pistol, the three of us using one to lure its attention while the other two whittled away the armour. Once the armour was rendered ineffective, Jacob hit it with a pull field, rendering it essentially weightless. I charged it with my biotics and hit it in the 'head' with a close range shotgun blast. The mech exploded, but my shields absorbed the force and kept me standing.

Jacob and Miranda joined me in standing over our defeated foe. I looked at the shell of mech, and then my thoughts returned to Tali. I looked in the direction I had last heard her voice, and saw a light moving in the window. I made my way over and found Tali in there along with another quarian, tending to some of the wounded who didn't outright die in the mech's assault. Tali told me she was busy there for the moment, and she would come and join us when the others were stable. I caught her eye and just nodded, glad again that she trusted me enough to let me do this.

I went back to the main room, opening the large doors to a surprisingly dark room. The only light source was a bank of screens along one wall, all scrolling with code, a single quarian sitting in front of it. His attention was fixed on the screens, eyes darting between them, his fingers dancing over the keyboard. He was mumbling to himself in a frightened whisper, repeating important words like 'monsters,' 'swarms' and 'hide.' I called out his name to try and get his attention, but he didn't answer, his face never leaving the code on the screen. His whispering did increase in desperation, and he seemed to think I was a hallucination.

I tried a different track then, setting up my omni-tool to create interference on his screens. I then swiped my hand like I was wiping steam off a mirror, a cascading column of monitors changing from code to static. Only then did Veetor seem to break out of his shock. He seemed awed that we were there, and asked how we hid. I explained to him that we had just gotten here, and asked what he was talking about. He told us what happened, that a 'swarm' had appeared and attacked the colonists, then the 'monsters' came and took them away, whilst he had hidden. He touched some buttons on his omni-tool and the screens came back to life, showing some surveillance footage of limp humans being handled into stasis pods by insectoid bipedal aliens I had never seen before. Miranda obviously had, as she gasped and said it looked like a Collector. I turned and asked what they knew about them, which wasn't much. They had advanced technology, but few people really believed they were real, since they usually worked through intermediaries. Veetor told us more about the swarm, describing them as 'machines like tiny insects.' Miranda noted that they were probably miniature probes designed to incapacitate via a toxin or stasis field. But she also noted that the Collectors weren't known for being sloppy and missing a life-form like Veetor, so they were obviously targeting humans.

I didn't like the sound of that at all. Veetor then said that he had taken lots of readings with his omni-tool, data that he found very strange. Miranda suggested that we take Veetor before Tali came back. I was about to turn around and express my outrage when Tali came in and did it for me. Miranda was quick to point out that she was doing what she thought was best, and they would return him unharmed once he'd been 'debriefed.' Tali begged me not to take him, just to take his data. I swallowed my outrage at Miranda and agreed as calmly as I could. I asked Tali if she would join me, like old times, but she refused. Said she had her own mission that was too important, even for me, and that when it was over… maybe. Tali then put her arm around Veetor to steer him to the quarian shuttle, looking at me one last time and stating her relief that I'm still in charge, before leaving the three of us alone.

I punched in our coordinates to the shuttle. Jacob took one look at me and knew not to say anything, but Miranda obviously thought her opinion needed to be heard. I gave her a withering look and she backed down, giving me a look to match mine, but keeping her silence. The shuttle came down and we got in, spending the entire return trip not speaking.

We arrived back to the station we had left from, and one of the station crew said the Illusive Man was waiting for me. Talking to him was the last thing I wanted to do at that point, but I decided to play nice for now. So I went back onto the metal circle, and the Illusive Man appeared before me once again. He commented that we have different ways of doing things, but he couldn't argue with my results. He added that the quarians had even forwarded notes from Veetor's debriefing back at the Migrant Fleet. There was nothing new, but it was a surprising move, given their history. I told him the benefits of having friends, and he agreed with me, but said it was hard to make friends when no-one trusts you. I bit back the urge to make a sarcastic comment.

I told him about my discovery of Collector involvement, and he didn't seem too surprised. He had suspected them, but he had needed the proof. I suspected there was more he wasn't telling me, but he wasn't in a sharing mood obviously. He told me if the Collectors were working for the Reapers, they needed to be stopped. From what I saw, doing that would take a small army, or a really good team. He was obviously expecting this, and had been selecting scientists, mercenaries and other specialists, and would send me dossiers on the best, confident in my ability to recruit and lead them. I told him that I was still a Spectre, and that getting their resources would be a definite help. He didn't sound too hopeful at my prospects, but he said I was welcome to try. I asked if any of my old team were on his list of dossiers, and he replied they were not. He did however have some information on them, but after two years, they had moved on, or changed allegiances.

According to him, Ashley had been promoted, and was still in the Alliance, though her file was classified. Wrex had apparently returned to Tuchanka, and was trying to unite the krogan clans. He wasn't ready to support Tali being on the team, he wanted more intel first. Garrus had apparently disappeared a few months after I died. Liara had set herself up as an information broker on Illium, though reports suggested she was working for the Shadow Broker, and therefore not to be trusted. I wasn't prepared to believe Liara was untrustworthy, but didn't voice the thought.

He gave me two last things to think about. First, he strongly suggested I go to Omega first and recruit Dr Mordin Solus, a salarian genius who might be able to counteract Collector technology. I told him straight up I didn't like being ordered by him. He let the comment slide and then told me I needed a ship and a pilot. He had both, and the pilot was one of the best. I heard the door open behind me and turned around to find the last person I expected to see.

I won't say I wasn't glad to see Joker again, but he seemed so different wearing the Cerberus uniform. I asked him how he ended up there, and he told me that after I died, the Alliance tried to cover up everything I had done and said. He had also been removed from flight duty indefinitely, so he took up the offer when Cerberus asked. They let him fly, they brought me back, and apparently, they had been busy. Joker stopped in front of a large viewing window and flicked a switch. A light came on outside, illuminating a ship that looked very familiar to me.

It was the _Normandy_ again, but bigger and better looking than before, sleeker and shinier. There was no name on the side, but one look between Joker and I and there wasn't any doubt. In almost no time at all, in big white letters, the _Normandy_ SR-2 was christened. While the name was added, I walked onto the ship with Joker, Jacob and Miranda. The ship looked amazingly similar to the old _Normandy_, but seeing the crew wearing Cerberus white and black instead of Alliance blue still seemed wrong. It was a little like how I felt, back from the dead and working for the wrong people. Joker just gushed at the leather chair in the cockpit, and let the three of us walk down to the galaxy map, which was currently displaying a hologram of the _Normandy_.

Miranda repeated the Illusive Man's suggestion that we look at getting Dr Solus first, and I gave her the same response I had given him. But then a third voice chimed in, saying it make logical and strategic sense to get the doctor as soon as possible. I asked who was talking, and a blue sphere appeared next to me and introduced itself as EDI, the _Normandy_ AI. I'll admit, I stood there stunned for a second, unsure of how to react. But then I figured out the first what I wanted to do: I told someone to get it out of my ship. Miranda told EDI it was nothing personal, as I had more experience fighting rogue AI then anyone alive, mostly geth and the Alliance's Hannibal program on Luna. EDI surmised that my distrust was logical rather than irrational, but that she wasn't a threat, just an observer. I said nothing more, and the hologram vanished.

I turned back to Miranda, asking what kind of crew the Normandy had, since it probably took more than 4 people to fly the ship. Miranda replied that the ship had a full crew, all waiting for my orders. Jacob said that he and Miranda should probably get to their stations, him to the armoury and Miranda to her office on Deck 3. I let them go, and walked over to the navigation platform. Telling Joker to lay in a course for Omega, he told me no problem, and suggested with a bad joke I should probably have a shower. I chuckled at the reminder that Joker was back, and then went to the elevator.

I was about to press the button for Deck 3 when I noticed that Deck 1 was labelled Captain's Quarters. I pressed the button and went there, and was immediately impressed. Along one wall was a fish tank; I had my own personal office, bathroom, lounge and a large and very comfortable bed, as well as an armour locker. I took the armour off and then had my first shower since I had woken up. I couldn't even remember how long I'd been awake and in the same set of armour, but that shower felt so good.

After I got out of the shower Joker let me know that we were now in the Sahrabarik system, orbiting Omega. I told him to maintain orbit, because I was going to sleep.

Looks like I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow…


	4. A Cure for What Ails You

Chapter 3 – A Cure for What Ails You

April 10, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Docked on Omega

It's been a long day.

There are people who say they sleep like the dead. Coming from anyone else, it's just a saying. Coming from me, it's an experience. An experience that makes me realise what a miracle it is to wake up for the first time in a lifetime, even if it is the second.

But just because I've been dead for two years doesn't mean I've forgotten what it's like to be captain, or about the other things on my own agenda. I got up and donned my casual outfit, even though there were several more stylish outfits in the was no way I was going to wear a Cerberus logo on my clothes, even if it was branded all over my ship. I took a good look at my face in the mirror as I dressed. My face had a spiderweb of scars from the last round of cybernetic surgery, but all of the scars from my previous life were gone. I rubbed my chin, where I'd previously had a scar I'd gotten on Mindoir, hiding from the slave-taking batarian raiders who killed my parents. I also rubbed my now-intact right eyebrow, which had previously been bisected by a piece of shrapnel from an explosion on Akuze as I fought my way to escape the thresher maws.

Once I was dressed, I would have used my terminal to access the VI on the old _Normandy_. But EDI wasn't a VI, so I suspected there was going to be a new routine needed. I cautiously called out her name, and a blue hologram manifested next to the door. The voice the AI produced had a feminine inflection, so it was hard not to think of EDI as a she. I asked her if she could bring up the following on my terminal: the watch report, specs on the new Normandy, a crew manifest, and the dossiers the Illusive Man had mentioned. EDI's hologram didn't shift, but less than a second later the files were displayed on the private terminal on my desk, and she asked me if there was anything else she could do for me. I told her no, and her hologram vanished, leaving me alone once again.

I gave the watch report a cursory glance, but there was nothing of interest, not that I had expected anything. I spent a longer time looking over the specs EDI had provided on the _Normandy_. As I had suspected before, Cerberus had definitely used the original blueprints as a guide only. The new _Normandy_ was nearly double the mass of the original, and the engine array was more fixed than the mobile vent arms of the original. The main weapons were still the same, between the main hull and engine mounts, but there was a section on the crew deck that could accommodate much larger, almost cruiser-class weapons. The stealth systems technology had been copied and scaled to the size of the new ship, and could handle about the same time in stealth mode as the old Normandy. I knew it wouldn't stand up to the Collectors though, who had managed to find the original even in stealth mode. The drive core was still disproportionately large for a vessel of this size, but that was never a bad thing in my books.

After I was satisfied with the ship specs, I took a look at the crew manifest. It was a smaller list than I had expected, probably because it didn't have the small garrison the Alliance had on warships. There was a list of crew specialists, engineers, gunners, support crew, and I was impressed at some of their shortlisted credentials, many of them being ex-Alliance or security. But there was one name on the list that stood out from all the others: Dr Chakwas. I was surprised to see her name on the list, but I'll admit it was good to see there. Finally, aside from Joker, there was someone I could trust, someone on my side. I made a mental note to go and get a check-up from her before I went groundside on Omega.

After the crew, I looked at the dossiers the Illusive Man had sent to me, specialists that apparently would be extremely helpful on my mission, the best of the best in the galaxy. So far there were only five and I raised my eyebrow, but then I remembered that I took down Saren and Sovereign with a team of five, and I reserved judgement. The top of the list was Mordin Solus, a salarian professor and former STG operative. I'd worked with the STG on Virmire, and was impressed with them, so I approved of his choice. The next was Zaeed Massani, a human mercenary so infamous even I had heard of him. He'd been the bane of criminals in the Terminus for over twenty years, and had participated in some of the most brutal and bloody operations spoken about in seedy bars and cantinas. The last on the list from Omega was someone known only as Archangel. The dossier was surprisingly empty compared to the previous two, not even a species, just a list of raids against organised mercenary groups on Omega, all of them well planned and executed and with an impressive body count.

The next dossier was labelled 'Subject Zero.' Inside was just a first name, Jack, no picture, and details on where to meet the prison ship _Purgatory_ where she was currently in custody. Apparently all arrangement had been made for a smooth transfer of her custody from them to me. I read what little there was in the bio, and was both impressed and a little apprehensive. Jack apparently was one of the most powerful human biotics ever recorded, but was also a psychopath. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted her on my ship, or in fact in the same system. The last dossier was for a krogan warlord named Okeer. He was some sort of scientist and a very old krogan, old enough to have fought during the Rebellions. He apparently had suspected dealings with the Collectors, so may have intelligence on them we could use. I remembered what it was like to have Wrex on the team and smiled. A krogan on my side was never a bad thing to have.

I closed all the open files and went downstairs to talk with the first person on my list for today: Kelly Chambers, the yeoman. I exited the elevator to find her at her post, just to the side of the galaxy map platform. I went and tapped her on the arm and she smartly turned around, giving me a wide smile. She introduced herself, and asked me if I had any questions for her. I asked her about her duties on the ship, and she cheerily replied that she was here to monitor the ship and the crew, and would inform me of anything that required my attention. I questioned her about monitoring the crew, and she replied that unofficially, she was also a qualified psychologist, and was there to keep an eye on the mental wellbeing of the crew. I was impressed, and asked her if there was anything that needed my attention. She told me that Joker wanted to see me on the flight deck, so I thanked her and then left.

I walked up the deck to where Joker was waiting. Once I was there, he turned around, a huge smile on his face. He seemed over the moon about being back on the Normandy, bigger and better than ever, with leather seats. EDI's hologram came up and told him that seamless improvements had been made during the construction of the SR-2. Joker's face immediately dropped, and he mentioned something about the bad news, and made a comment comparing EDI to 'ship cancer.' I told him this ship was just a copy, that nothing here was even a part of the original. He replied that there was the two of us, and I had to agree. He said that having the new Normandy was great because the last two years of being grounded sucked for him. Apparently for him, as long as he could fly, the AI could spy all it wanted because it couldn't get any worse than that. I hoped it wouldn't, because I died last time. He just chuckled and called me a downer, before swivelling around to face his controls. I just rolled my eyes and made my way to the elevator, pressing the button for the crew deck below.

I opened the door to find a familiar layout to the old _Normandy_. To the sides there were observation decks, and behind me were the mess and sleeper pods. Where the captain's quarters had been on the SR-1, there was still an office, this time for the XO, Miranda. I didn't feel like talking to her after yesterday's comments, so instead I went and talked to Mess Sergeant Gardner. He struck me instantly as a hardworking, yet under-appreciated man. I heard comments from Hawthorne despairing of his cooking, but he just took it and said it was hard to make decent meals using military provisions. He told me that aside from cooking, he also was the ship's maintainer, from fixing minor electrical faults to cleaning. I raised a small concern about him cleaning toilets and cooking meals and he just replied stoically that this was a Cerberus vessel, and that you had to pull your weight; he just caught everything that fell through the cracks. He chuckled at his own bad joke, and just I rolled my eyes. I asked him if there was anything he needed, and he said yes. The provisions he had weren't good enough to make decent meals, which was something this crew should have, given the mission they were on. I asked him for a list of things and he was reluctant, saying I had better things to do. I told him that the crew was just as important as I was, so he handed me a list, saying most if this stuff was common on the Citadel. I thanked him, and told him if we ever headed out that way, I'd look into it. He gave me a salute, and then went back to work.

I walked away and then went towards the medbay. I opened the door and there she was, back to the door. I walked in and the door closed behind me, which got her attention. She turned around and looked at me, a small smile coming to her face. She seemed very happy to see me alive, but her voice was a little sadder than it seemed when I used to know her. I told her about my surprise to see her here, on a Cerberus vessel. She responded that she was just as surprised, but here we both were. I asked her how this medbay compared to the one on the SR-1. She said it was similar in terms of equipment and medical supplies, but there was something missing: her 'private reserves.' She said she had even had an unopened bottle of Serrice Ice brandy, so I said I'd keep an eye out for a replacement. I just couldn't hold back my curiosity any longer, so I asked her what she was doing here, how she had gotten here.

She told me that after the Normandy's destruction, she had been reassigned to Mars Naval Medical Centre. I was impressed, Mars was a highly sought-after posting. But she said it didn't compare to life in space, the feel of a ship beneath your feet. Life planetside was too static, too boring apparently. I asked her what she thought about working for Cerberus and she firmly replied that she wasn't working for Cerberus; she was working for me. She told me that whatever else, she trusted me to do the right thing. That meant a lot to me, knowing she was there for me and not because she believed in Cerberus. I asked her about her honest opinion on the odds for this mission. She replied simply that she'd lived through the reclaiming of Shanxi, the Skyllian Blitz, the Battle of the Citadel and the destruction of the _Normandy_. I was impressed, I didn't know she'd been part of the First Contact War. She had a full life, and she just wanted to make sure the crew had the same opportunity.

I asked her for one last thing before I left: I asked her to take a good look at me, at my new body. She agreed, told me to step over to one of the beds and then pressed a button, turning all the windows opaque. She put on some gloves and took out a penlight, and then moved in front of me. She started with the standard iris tests, and then moved on to look at my mouth, ears, and nose. She looked at my faintly glowing scars, frowning a bit, before telling me to undress. I'd been naked in front of her before, but this time felt different somehow. I took off my clothes and stood up in front of her. She drew a little blood and put it in the processor, before coming back to me. She laid me down on the bed and looked at me, at the same network of scars covering my entire body. Then she turned on the medical scanner to give me a complete workup. She told me I could get dressed again and turned around while I did. When I was fully clothed she turned off the opacity on the windows and told me to sit down. She then turned and looked at me, an odd look on her face. I asked her how I was. She gave me a small smile and simply said I was in good shape for a corpse. She then told me that my body was the peak of physical condition, and that I was slightly faster, stronger and more resilient physically than any human had a right to be. She also told me that I was as stubborn as a mule in her opinion, because most people would have taken the news of their reamination rather badly. I asked her if there was any sort of control implant or suicide device implanted. She told me that there was none that she could find, but with all the synthetic parts I now had installed, it would be impossible to be sure. I thanked her anyway, even though I wasn't completely put at ease by her news. Before I left, she said something else. She told me that the scars on my face, and everywhere else, hadn't had time to fully heal before I was woken up. She said that if I kept a positive attitude, that they would heal by themselves, though if I stayed angry or stressed for prolonged periods healing would take longer, and potentially make it worse. She told me that if I was concerned, there was an upgrade I could purchase to the medical bay, but she would leave that decision up to me. I gave her a smile and a nod, and then left, one more stop to make on my schedule.

I went down to the engineering deck to meet the engineers. They both saluted when I approached them, which I marked mentally. Very few of the crew I had met on this ship so far had saluted, and the ones that had invariably were ex-Alliance, like Jacob. Frankly, Ken seemed stoked that I had come down to visit them. I just told him I was down here getting to know the crew. Ken told me he was responsible for the power control systems, and Gabby was in charge of propulsion. I asked them where they had received their training, and they said they had both served on the SSV Perguia, a cruiser that saw action at the Battle of the Citadel. I asked them how they went from there to Cerberus, and Ken said that after I died, the Council discounted the Reaper threat and the Alliance soon followed. Only Cerberus was interested in thwarting the Reapers, and so when Ken was asked to join then, they both joined. I could understand that, as they both worked well together, and knew the _Normandy_ SR-2 well. I asked them if there was anything they needed. Ken began to complain using words that I had never before considered using in a complaint, before Gabby cut him off. It was obvious she was more experienced in talking to layman such as me, who didn't understand complex ship engineering. Ken then said that the FBA arrays could use a different part, and then started boring me with tech I didn't understand. Gabby stopped him again, saying that it wasn't a performance issue, but a maintenance one. If they had the array they wanted, they'd only have to calibrate once a week instead of everyday. Ken then said something about how it might be hard to find, since Nashan Stellar Dynamics had discontinued the T6 line. Gabby said we might find a good one second-hand in the Omega's salvage yards, so I said I'd keep an eye out. As I left, I could swear I heard Ken saying again how amazed he was I came down, and Gabby just smugly told him she told him so.

After that I went back up and asked Gardner for some breakfast. Hawthorne was just leaving and jokingly warned me if I had an anti-poison implant. I just shrugged the comment off and waited. Gardner cooked up something, nothing particularly special by the look of it, and served it to me. He was right, military provisions didn't make for a great meal. But after having been dead for longer than anyone has a right to be, any food tasted good. I ate it with a smile on my face, thanked Gardner, all to Hawthorne's surprise, and then went back to my cabin. I opened a comm. channel to Joker, telling him to bring us in to dock. He acknowledged, giving me a 20 minute ETA. I closed the channel and told EDI to tell Jacob and Miranda to be dressed and armed for ground missions by then. I walked up to my locker and stepped out of my clothes and into my underwear. I know it's standard in the Alliance to wear a set of clothes under armour, but I liked to wear less, it was more comfortable. So I suited up, and then stopped by the armoury to pick up my weapons, meeting Jacob on the way. He pulled out his pistol and shotgun, checking them and attaching them before heading towards the airlock, Miranda stepping through the same door coming in. I pulled out my shotgun as she pulled out her pistol and SMG, giving me a hard look, and then exiting, leaving me alone as I checked my grenade launcher and slung it onto my armour.

I stepped into the airlock with Miranda and Jacob and waited while EDI ran the protocols. Miranda noted that we should be rendezvousing with Zaeed near where we disembarking. I was about to comment on that when the doors opened and I got my first taste of Omega. I almost threw up right there, and the thought immediately after that was wondering why I didn't wear my sealed helmet. But after a few breaths my nose simply decided to give up and shut down, and I started breathing through my mouth. Jacob and Miranda seemed similarly disgusted by the taste of the air, but they both swallowed it down like I did. I stepped out and down quickly, Jacob and Miranda a step behind me. I have to say, seeing Omega wasn't much better than smelling it. It was rusty brown and black everywhere, exposed pipes leaking oily black fluids all over the place. This station was centuries old, and it looked every year of it. I couldn't wait to just get back to the ship and take a long shower, with plenty of soap.

I hadn't got more than a few steps before we were stopped by a salarian who looked like he was high. I was getting really irritated at him, but thankfully before he went too far, a muscly and armoured batarian shoved him out of the way. The salarian obviously knew better than to argue, so he left. The batarian just looked at me inscrutably and then simply said 'Welcome to Omega, Shepard.' I'll admit, I was a little offput that this alien I had never met, and didn't know I was coming, knew my name. I asked how he knew who I was and he replied that my ship and I had been tagged as soon as I had entered the Terminus. Apparently, a dead Spectre isn't subtle. He then practically ordered me to go and meet 'Aria' at a club called Afterlife. I told him just as firmly that I'd go when I was ready. His upper set of eyes never left mine, but his lower set looked at my armour, weapons and companions. He then said in a firm, but less threatening manner then before that nobody kept Aria waiting, before leaving. I gave Miranda and Jacob a quizzical look, but neither of them had anything to add. So we continued onward. EDI contacted me over the radio, saying that there was some kind of plague in the slums near Mordin's clinic, and that Aria may have more information. If the AI was saying Aria was an important person to talk to, I was swayed more by that argument than a thug batarian.

We walked a little further when the three of us came across a scene that probably was commonplace in Omega: one guy in armour beating the crap out of another. In this case, a human man in unique yellow armour beating a batarian. He kneed the batarian in the stomach and he doubled over. He pleaded with the armoured man, but he was told to shut up. I was about to walk past when something caught my eye: a tattoo on the side of the armoured man's neck. It took me a second to recognise it as the same tattoo I saw in a picture recently, in a dossier. That's when I recognised the tattoo as belonging to someone we were meant to meet. I walked up to him and called out his name: Zaeed Massani.

He turned around and I got my first look at a face even more scarred and terrifying than mine. The right side of his face had a long scar from possible surgery, and his right eye was a distinctly different colour to his left, which I remembered from his dossier, was his natural colour. He looked at me and said he was, and that I must be Shepard. I was starting to wonder if everyone in the galaxy knew I was coming for them. I asked him if he'd been briefed, and he told me the Illusive Man had told him everything he needed to know. I pointed at the batarian still curled up on the deck and told him I was expecting one man, not two. Zaeed just said he was a deliquent who pissed off the wrong people, enough for someone to pay him his 'bring 'em in alive' rates, which were steep. He's apparently given Zaeed a good chase, but he made one stupid mistake in coming to Omega. He calmly said he was just going to turn him in for the bounty.

I asked him why he was doing this job, since he didn't seem the type to do a job for the good of it. He just replied that Cerberus was paying him, and paying him well. I wasn't about to look a gift mercenary in the mouth, so I told him to meet us on the Normandy once he'd turned in his bounty. He said thanks, and asked if the Illusive Man had told me about his deal. I replied that it must have slipped his mind. _Like a lot of things,_ I thought to myself. I asked him for the details. He asked if I'd heard of Vido Santiago, and I shook my head. He continued that Vido runs the Blue Suns, and that he'd captured an Eldfell-Ashland Energy facility on Zorya and was using the workers for slave labour. I almost pictured this guy with four eyes the way Zaeed described him. Apparently EAE hadn't taken kindly when they had found out, so they had hired Zaeed just before Cerberus. I told him I'd get it done.

Our nice little chat seemed to have given our batarian friend some courage and delusions he could run away fast enough. Zaeed just took one step to the side, pulled out his pistol and shot from the hip, straight through the running idiot's thigh. Zaeed just sighed at the stupidity of the batarian, and I was right there with him. I guess that even species difference doesn't change the nature of stupidity. He just walked over and picked him up roughly, telling me that he was going to turn him in before he began to stink, and that he'd be locked and loaded whenever I wanted to get some killing done. I liked his attitude, but right now I had other things to do. He went off in the direction of the bounty office, and Miranda pointed out which way to Afterlife.

We walked out of the walkways and I suddenly didn't need Miranda to point the way anymore. Dominating the view was a gigantic screen showing a very suggestively dressed asari dancer moving against a flaming background, the word Afterlife pasted underneath. There was a line in front of the door, and the several armed bouncers. Apparently Afterlife was the destination on Omega. I walked right passed the line, drawing some verbal abuse from a human at the front of the line who was being stopped by an elcor bouncer. I walked up to the batarian doorman, who turned out to be the same man who tried to threaten me before. He just gave me a look and told me to talk to Aria again, before opening the door.

Beyond the door was a very interesting hallway, if you're into flames. It made me think about the path into hell. The three of us kept going until a batarian and two flunkies decided to test their luck. They got up and in my face, daring me to make trouble. I wasn't feeling in the mood for it, so I pulled out my gun and shoved it in his face. He suddenly got a lot less confident. He told me he wasn't looking for trouble, and I told him to get lost before I found him some. He took my advice, and he and stupid number one left in a hurry. Stupid number two tried a macho move, pulling his thumb across his neck and then pointing to me. I just gave him a good look at the wrong end of my gun and he high-tailed it. I really hated the way batarians thought humans were intimidated just because they had four eyes and pointy teeth. I just kept going, slinging my gun back into place.

My first impression of Afterlife was how similar it felt to Chora's Den on the Citadel, before it got shut down thanks to me. Bars and intoxication, drug use, and lots of asari dancers wearing outfits that revealed more than they hid, with lots of eyes watching them lecherously. There was what looked like a viewing platform at the back, with guards at either set of stairs, so it was a safe bet Aria was up there. I walked around the central platform by the bar, when my eye caught something. In the cabinet was a bottle of Serrice Ice brandy, its bright blue glow standing out against the orange light of the club. I walked up to the bartender and asked him how much for the bottle. He gave me a pricey figure, but I could afford it. I told him to have it sent to the Normandy, and gave him a generous tip to make sure it actually got there. Satisfied with one task complete, I walked up to one of the stairways.

The guard was a batarian, and openly held an assault rifle across his chest. He was obviously expecting me, because he just gave me a nod and then looked back out at the crowd. I took the signal and went up, finding a violet-coloured asari looking out over the club, with a lot of armed batarians and turians standing guard. Once I was far enough Aria said stop, and a lot of guns were put in my face. I pulled out my own and pointed it at the nearest thug, and by the sounds of it, so did Miranda and Jacob. She turned her head so she could see just a little of the situation behind her. Apparently, something amused her, because she gave a small nod and the guns were put away. One of the batarians then pulled up something on his omni-tool, some kind of scanner. I told him to put that away pretty quickly, or else he'd be using it from inside his colon. Aria seemed to find that amusing as well, but her tone of voice quickly became hard as she told me that if I wanted to talk to her, I got scanned. I held my tongue and let him scan me, and when he said that I was clean, I was allowed to come closer. I told her that she could have asked me first, and she said sharply that she didn't ask.

I asked her the first obvious question, since I'd been told to come straight to her. She replied with a dramatic gesture that she didn't rule Omega, but she was Omega. Everyone apparently needed something, and they all came to Aria to get it. But there was only one rule on Omega, and that was don't fuck with Aria. I told her I had a similar rule, and she shot back that on my ship that would matter, but on Omega, it was all about her. I took a seat when she offered and asked her why she seemed so indifferent towards me. She replied matter-of-factly that my death had been downplayed, but it was hardly secret. Apparently I could have been anyone, so she had to be sure.

After the formalities, if you want to call it that, I asked her about Mordin. She told me that he'd set up a clinic in one of the slums, but that it was under quarantine, there was some kind of plague there. Then she laughed, and told me that Mordin was interesting, as likely to heal you as shoot you, and trained in the salarian special forces. She said he was brilliant and dangerous, but apparently was annoyingly talkative. She then turned away, signalling that her generous time was apparently exhausted for me. I left, and she just wished me luck.

I left Afterlife without incidence this time, and followed the directions given to me by one of Aria's men to get to the quarantine zone. On the way I passed by a batarian that had obviously taken the old school approach to evangelism: stand on a box and shout at everyone. He had obviously taken the batarian grudge against humanity one step further, and was blaming all the galaxy's problems on us. I'd seen it once before, a guy called Balak hijacked an asteroid and tried to crash it into Terra Nova. Talk about taking a grudge too far, the Citadel Conventions bans asteroid drops on garden worlds. But I guess that only works if everyone plays by the same rules. One of the hardest choices I ever made in my career was to let that monster walk free, but at least I killed every batarian I could before I got to him. I resisted the urge to punch the preacher in the face and kept walking, following the instructions I'd been given until I came across a woman shouting at a turian.

The turian was holding an assault rifle, and he was pretty adamant that he was not letting this girl in. Fortunately for him, I didn't have to add his to the inevitable body count I was going to make today, as he was pretty cooperative once he saw my gun. Apparently, I'd need them, since the Blue Suns weren't happy in there, between the plague and the vorcha. Aria had ordered him and a few other guards futher along that no-one goes in or out until the plague or the mercenaries had killed everyone, and then they were supposed to clean up what's left. I told him to take a good hard look at me. I was on a mission, and anyone who tried to stop me was going to get shot, probably in a place that would be extremely painful before you died very slowly. He got the idea, and waved me through. The girl took outrage to this particular action, and asked why I was allowed past and she wasn't. The turian just gave her a sarcastic look and told her that I had a grenade launcher, she didn't.

I took the elevator the turian was blocking down to the Gozu district, and found a few more turians on guard there. The streets were mostly empty, but there was a dead turian wearing Blue Suns armour. He didn't have any bullet holes in him though, must have been the plague everyone was talking about. The turian guards stopped each other shooting me, but warned me that Blue Suns and the vorcha were having a massive turf war over what was left of the district and shooting everything not wearing their colours. I told them that I wasn't worried, and stroked my shotgun lovingly to emphasise the point.

I walked down a few streets, following a map EDI had managed to find. I turned one corner and found a couple of Blue Suns mercenaries talking to each other. It seemed like it would be fine, until one looked over his partner's shoulder and pointed right at me. I just pulled up my arms and charged into him, sending both of them flying. I used the time they were down to bring up my shotgun, blasting the first mercenary through the chest. The second guy managed to get a hold of his gun and sent a few shots into my personal biotic barrier, before I blasted him too. I just sighed and gripped my gun tighter. It looked like it was just going to be one of those days.

I smelled something unpleasant coming from up ahead, a smell I'd hoped never to experience again – burning flesh. But it wasn't human, at least not completely. A turn around the corner confirmed what my nose had told me, as I found a pile of burning corpses. Miranda pointed out that they had apparently tried to burn the bodies to control the spread, but it obviously wasn't working. Jacob just said he wanted to get away from the smell, it reminded him too much of Eden Prime. I hadn't been aware that Jacob had served on Eden Prime, but this wasn't the time for conversation. I sniffed the air again and found a new smell, fresh decomposition. I followed it to a door with burned circuits. I used my omni-tool to bypass the affected circuits, and I opened the door to find two dead turians. One was apparently a plague victim, and the other's claws were worn down and had obviously been bleeding. I turned around to find claw marks all over the door. Miranda noted that he had tried to claw his way out, and had been sealed in from the other side. Jacob just said that no-one wanted to die trapped like an animal, I just nodded and moved out.

We walked past the corpse fire following the map we had, and came across a dying batarian. He cursed me as the cause of the plague that was obviously killing him, and spat something about not having the decency to wait until he died before we robbed him. I tried to approach him to help, and he used what little strength he had left to push a pistol into my face. If the guy didn't want help, I wasn't about to try and force it on him. So I asked him where Mordin's clinic was, and he cursed that too, and hoped that the vorcha would burn it to the ground, and all the humans with it. Then he started coughing and spitting up blood. I tried to get some medi-gel for him, but I wasn't fast enough and he died right there. I won't say I felt sorry for him.

We kept going, and after a little while we came across some humans holed up inside an apartment. They were relieved that we were human, as the Blue Suns had been indiscriminately killing humans for a while now. I asked them about the plague, and they said it had started two weeks ago. It became quickly apparent that whatever it was killed and spread fast, but didn't affect humans at all, which pointed to a designed bioweapon rather than anything natural. The woman said that the vorcha may have been immune, but they weren't smart enough to create something like this plague. Vorcha had moved in swiftly, but the Suns still had a lot of firepower on their side. I asked about Mordin's clinic, and the man was swift to say he wasn't keen to go there. He was also pretty cynical about Mordin, saying anyone with a cure and military-grade mechs wouldn't give refuge and medical care for free, not on Omega. He'd also killed vorcha and Blue Suns who tried to intimidate him, but he did it himself, not with his mechs. I told them it wasn't safe here, but they weren't going to risk their lives on a rumour of sanctuary. I told them that I was heading to the clinic, and that I'd do what I could to leave them a safe path. They seemed swayed enough, so said they'd wait about an hour, and then head to the clinic.

I kept going, blasting away any mercs or vorcha stupid enough to get in my way and shoot at me. At one point we came across some vorcha battling it out with Blue Suns turians. I was fine to just let them shoot each other and mop up the survivors still shooting. Let me tell you, I got tired of vorcha pretty quick, their damn biology meant that they regenerated any wounds to the point where headshots were the only way to really kill them.

We finally killed off the final vorcha in the area, only to have my suit sensors picking up heat and movement consistent with bodies. I opened the door, and found a couple of humans and a dead turian. They told me to back off, probably assuming I was a looter. They took one look at my guns and were quick to point out that the turian had died from the plague, and that they were simply 'taking an accounting of his worldly possessions.' I responded that it was pretty low to steal from the dead, and they cynically said that he wasn't going to need them anymore. I told them a little harder to stop, and he asked if I was going to shoot him. I said no, but the Blue Suns probably wouldn't like it if they found some dead turian's trinkets and a handful of credits in their hands. I asked them if that was worth dying over. They agreed that it probably wasn't, and then said they'd stop. I gave them a disbelieving eye, and they swore they were being honest this time. I left then, leaving them to their fate.

It was a really short walk to the clinic from there, and I found it staffed in the normal reception area by mechs and a man with an assault rifle. He waved me through, and I went in. Inside I found a range of batarians, salarians and turians with some human refugees. One of the receptionists told me Mordin was in the back with a patient when I asked. I walked back there and I'll admit, my first impression was not the one I had been expecting. From everything people had said about him, I had expected everything but what I found. Mordin was treating a turian when I walked in, and talking a mile and minute while doing it. It seemed that he had no inner monologue, that he just blurted out each thought as it came to him in order, and from the speed of his speech, he thought pretty fast.

He noticed us after a few seconds, and then quickly scanned me. He them began rambling, something about how I was armoured and armed, and what was down here that anyone could possibly want to send in someone like me for. I told him to calm down, told him I was on an important mission and I could really use his help. He said it was impossible; the plague had him too busy. He wondered who could possibly have sent me. I didn't know how much he knew, but Cerberus wasn't exactly number one on the galaxy's Christmas card list.

So I told him I was working with a privately funded human group. He quickly, and verbally, speculated that we were well armed, but not Alliance, since we were in the Terminus; Spectres aren't human, and that Terra Firma is too unstable, leaving only one option: I was working for Cerberus. To tell the truth, I could barely follow the speed of his logic, but the fact he came to a correct conclusion was pretty remarkable. I asked him how he knew about Cerberus and he merely shrugged it off as unimportant compared to the plague. Though he wondered what mission could possibly have Cerberus seeking salarian aid? I replied that the Collectors had been abducting human colonies, and I was trying to stop them. He responded with an action that could, on a human, have been a curious eyebrow raise. According to him, this plague had been designed: it's near-perfect cross-species mortality and the fact that it didn't affect humans both pointed to it, and the Collectors are one of the few who possess the technology to make such a bioweapon.

He continued that he had developed a cure already, but he needed a way to distribute it. He would do it himself, but he was too busy with patients here at the clinic. He warned me that there were a lot of vorcha out there, and that I'd need to kill them to get to the distribution centre. I just cracked my knuckles and told him that I'd deal with it. It was right about then that the air circulation system shut down. I figured we had about one hour, maybe two, before we all suffocated. Mordin looked like he probably knew down to the second. He quickly handed me a vial, which I placed in a secure pocket in my armour. He then handed me a pistol, a Devlon Industries one by the look of it. I nodded appreciatively, Devlon made good pistols, and when he told me that he had taken it off a dead merc, and I gave a little smile. I moved to go and he told me one more thing, that his assistant was missing. I said I'd keep an eye out, but I wasn't going to make it a priority. He looked a little odd, I wasn't sure what exactly he was trying to show, perhaps concern? Salarian faces weren't something I had a lot of experience in. He said that his assistant was naïve, and he'd told him not to go. He was smart, and had a bright future ahead of him, or so Mordin hoped.

I headed out then, Miranda and Jacob close behind. Like Mordin had warned us, there were a lot of vorcha between the environmental controls and us. Thankfully they weren't particularly tactic savvy or tough, otherwise we'd have been cutting it close for time. But these ones obviously knew the air controls were important, and had kept the best weapons close. We came across some pyros with nasty-looking flamethrowers, when Miranda had an idea. She used her omni-tool to send an electrical overload on the pyro. I won't say vorcha are pretty, but they looked a lot better when they exploded.

We were headed down a corridor about 10 minutes after leaving Mordin's when I heard voices nearby: human and batarian. I turned and followed the sounds to find a human and three batarians threatening him, saying something about spreading the plague. I surmised that this was Daniel, Mordin's assistant. I quietly moved closer, my gun at the ready, then broke into a run after I heard one saying something about shooting Daniel to make him talk. I got into the open and had my weapon up just as one of the batarians had a pistol in his face, one of his friends pointing a shotgun in my direction. I told them to let him go, that Daniel isn't to blame, and asked them what kind of sense it would make to come into vorcha territory to spread a plague? They agreed it wasn't, and put down their weapons. The batarian asked me if I was going to let them go, since I still had my gun raised. I honestly thought about shooting them, but I didn't feel like they deserved it, so I let them go. The batarian seemed bemused, muttering something about the discovery of human nobility.

I probably didn't have a lot of time to chat, but Daniel obviously needed a whack on the ear for being so stupid. He seemed every bit like Mordin's albeit brief description: smart, but not particularly clever. I thought about telling him a lot of ways in which what he did was stupid, but I let them go, he needed to learn at some point what the real world was like, and this was as good experience as any. He thanked me timidly, obviously not used to seeing someone ready for combat. I told him to go back and help Mordin, he needed it. He replied that he owed me everything, so he wasn't going to disobey me like he had Mordin.

Not long after that, we finally made it to the environmental controls. A vorcha who apparently was the leader of this genius-level stunt started shouting at us. Something about how we had the cure, and that wasn't going to happen. He said they planned to destroy the air fans, letting everyone in the district die so the Collectors would make them strong. The moron obviously didn't realise that he was breathing air as well, and his little plan would involve him dying like the rest of us. He shouted something else about the Collectors wanting to spread the plague, and that he would kill us. I'd had enough at this point, and I did something I once had Ashley tell me: put a hypervelocity slug through his skull.

EDI came in over the radio as we variously shot, pulled, pushed and exploded vorcha, telling us the sequence we would need to re-initialise the system with the cure. We would need to inject the cure into the control, and then restart both fan arrays separately. We fought our way to the controls, dodging bullets, flames and rockets along the way. I pulled the vial out of the pocket I stowed it in and threw it to Miranda, who used her biotics to pull it safely towards her. I shouted at her to inject it into the controls and set it to auto-replicate, before turning around and using the doorframe for cover, using my SMG to create some suppressing fire for her. After a few seconds I felt Miranda at my side, a subtle change in the local space-time as she sent a warp field at a vorcha hiding on one of the raised walkways.

We fought our way down to one of the arrays and turned it on. Wherever the fans were was close, because the wind strength as we walked outside was intense. I could just about literally lean into the wind. This did add a whole new layer to our tactics though, as all we needed to do was create a little lift using biotics and the wind would blow our enemies to their death. Once the second array was activated, the vorcha seemed to get it into their skulls they had lost, and retreated.

We had a long walk back to the clinic, which gave me a little time to think. There was something that the 'leader', if you want to call him that, had said that I had filed away. He had said the Collectors had wanted the plague. I added that to the fact that I knew that the Collectors were harvesting human colonies. Maybe this was just a test run for the plague. Omega was a major trading hub for the whole Terminus, everyone with a ship eventually came here. Add that to the fact the Omega didn't have anything even resembling a government, and no-one would investigate a plague further than seeing if it was over. Aria's concern didn't even come that far. If this was just a test, then that could potentially be bad news. So far the Collectors had targeted human-only colonies. But once that supply was exhausted, they would have to go for larger colonies, ones that had permanent non-human presences. Veetor had shown that whatever the Collectors used, it wasn't calibrated to target quarians, and potentially anything else non-human. In cases like that, sending this plague in first would definitely get rid of alien presence, or at least reduce it significantly so they could come in and take the humans again.

It was a worrying thought, but I was obviously thinking more deeply than I realised, as soon I was back in the clinic. Both Mordin and Daniel thanked me, Mordin rambling like before about how the viral levels in the air were dropping, patients were getting better, vorcha were retreating. Daniel gave me a look of embarrassed thanks, and asked me if I had planned to kill the batarians. I told him honestly I was tempted, but they didn't deserve it today. I privately thought that my body count was already high enough for today, but didn't voice it. Mordin just said he wouldn't have taken the chance and killed them before they had a chance to react. Daniel went white, and then red with anger, shouting at Mordin that he was a doctor, he was supposed to help people. Mordin just replied that he wasn't a doctor, he was a realist. Helping people doesn't just mean finding cures, it sometimes meant killing dangerous people. Daniel just left the room, a stern expression on his face.

Mordin just watched him, silently for once, a calculating expression on his face, or so I thought. He turned around and told me he was a good kid, a bit naïve, but life would teach him. He was leaving him the clinic, he would be able to deal with any after-effects patients would feel. I asked him if he would join us, now that the plague was cured. He gave me what must have been a conspiratorial smile as he said that working with Cerberus was unexpected, and that there would obviously be many surprises ahead. He said he still had a few things left to clear up, and that he'd meet us on the Normandy in a few hours. I nodded and left, heading on the long walk back to the elevator. I holstered my weapon, hoping I wouldn't need to use it again today, and really wanting a drink.

30 minutes later found me back in Afterlife, being served a drink by a batarian. He wasn't my first choice of bartender, but he was fast enough. I downed the disgustingly weak drink in a single go, and it wasn't long before the world went black. I don't know how long I was out, but I woke up looking at the wrong end of a vorcha, one of the more sobering sights in the galaxy I imagine. Jacob was nearby, and I asked him what happened. A human I hadn't met before told me I'd been poisoned by the batarian behind the bar, and as far as he knew, the only one to survive it. I knew there was a reason I generally disliked batarians, and this one was going to learn what happened when you pissed me off.

I walked back towards the bar when something caught my eye. I took a step back and looked at what had gotten my attention: a kiosk with a T6-FBA array listed. I walked up to it and punched up the specs: it had only been in one ship, hardly used, before the ship hit a small asteroid. I looked at the price and it was way too high compared to its actual value. I called out to the owner, since it looked like a small place, and was greeted by the sight of a young quarian obviously on Pilgrimage. I asked him about the price and he said that first day on Omega, his money was stolen. He'd been forced to sell his salvage at a higher price than Harrot the elcor, but it was costing him. I could see he was obviously struggling, and would be here for a long time at his current rate. Anywhere was better than Omega for someone with his talents. I offered to pay his way off Omega, but he said it was 1000 credits. I gave him the money, telling him that if he wanted to thank me, take the T6 array to the Normandy on his way out. I paid him for the parts as well, and watched him pack his meagre belongings and the array and leave, a smile obvious even under his faceplate.

Then I remembered that someone needed my boot up his ass. I walked back up to the bar, to the same batarian who'd served me before. He pretended not to know me, said all humans looked alike, and then gave me a drink, 'on the house.' I pointed to the drink and told him to drink it. He started stuttering desperately then, saying I should have been dead. I shouted at him that this time, his luck had run out, so he'd better start wishing his luck would come back real quick, because he was going to drink that poison. And to sweeten the deal, I told him if he didn't drink fast, I'd start blinding him one eye at a time. He swallowed heavily, closed all of his eyes, and then took a long, slow drink, draining the glass. Five seconds later he puked green all over the floor behind the bar before collapsing into it. The turian who'd been standing next to me for the whole exchange didn't seem shocked in any way, and casually said he deserved it, and the drinks here tasted like poison anyway.

I just walked back to the Normandy, two things on my mind: first, that I really needed several rounds of decontamination and a long scalding shower; and second that the Normandy really needed its own bar.

I got back to the Normandy just as Mordin was arriving. He hopped into the airlock with us, the UV decontamination sequence seeming to take a little longer than strictly usual, which I wasn't complaining about. We walked along the main corridor to the briefing room, Mordin noting with a mix of respect and fascination the design and controls of the Normandy. Miranda just went straight to her office the next deck down, but Jacob stuck around. Mordin said again that it was unexpected to be working for Cerberus, and wondered aloud if the Illusive Man wasn't so human-centric these days. Before Jacob could say anything, I asked Mordin how he knew about him. Mordin just scoffed, reminded me that the salarians were experts at espionage, and that while he was retired he still heard things. He only knew the name, not the man, and that his anti-alien reputation was listed as problematic. I told him that humans were still number one to him, but the threat was too big to handle on their own. I also told him the Collectors had been abducting human colonies, but there were no distress signals, and Jacob added that there were no signs of foul play, except that everyone was missing. Mordin began theorising quickly about nerve gases and drugged water before I stopped him again, telling him we had samples and readings from Freedom's progress we'd like him to analyse.

He agreed with a smile, saying he'd need a lab. EDI jumped in at this point, saying that there was a lab on the combat deck, and if he needed anything, to place a requisition order. Mordin's eyes jumped around, looking for the source of the voice. I wondered if I did that the first time I heard EDI. He then did his pretty much standard think-talking, starting with the pilot, and then picking up on the synthetic voice and simulated inflections. Then he asked he straight up if that was an AI. I told him it was, and he took on a shrewd look. He muttered something about AI and non-human crew as signs of how desperate Cerberus was. Jacob simply said that we needed to work together to stop the Collectors, and that seemed to jump Mordin out of his current thought cycle. He asked to be pointed to the lab, and Jacob lead the way out.

I asked EDI if there had been any deliveries while I was gone. She said there had been two, one early in the day, a bottle of Serrice Ice brandy that was sent to Dr Chakwas, and the second the T6 array, which was currently being installed by Ken and Gabby. While it was being installed, we wouldn't be able to leave dock. I said that was fine, but told her to make sure the watch was extra-vigilant tonight. Then I went back to my cabin, ordered dinner from the mess, which only reinforced my resolve to get Gardner some decent food to work with, and had a shower.

At least there's going to be something good about tomorrow: it's my birthday.


	5. Touched by an Archangel

Chapter 4 – Touched by an Archangel

April 11, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

En Route to the Citadel

Happy Birthday to me.

Here's an excellent question: how old am I? Technically, since I was born in 2154, I'd be 31 today. But the last I was alive, I was only 28, about to turn 29 less than two weeks before the Collectors attacked the _Normandy_. So how old am I? I'll leave that question for another day, I think. Today, I had other things on my mind.

I started my day as usual with the watch report, which I studied a little closer today, checking for anything out of the ordinary. According to the watch officer, there had apparently been someone in the docking bay, trying to look casual but obviously looking closely at the ship. Surveillance had then shown him touching his ear, definite signs of short-range communication. Someone now knew I was here, but I didn't know who - yet.

After that, I went down to the mess and found some of the rest of the crew eating breakfast, which I joined. No-one seemed excited about the meal, which was understandable, given Gardner still didn't have anything decent to cook with. So I substituted enjoying the meal with getting to know the crew a little better. Apparently, several of them joined this mission because they had family in the colonies: Hadley had a brother on Ferris Fields, and Rolston had a sister and niece on New Canton. I now had a better appreciation for some of these guys, they weren't just Cerberus, they had a personal stake in this. I finished the meal and then went downstairs to see how my engineers were enjoying their new toys.

I opened the door and was almost hugged by Ken. He said that with the new array installed and working, they only had to calibrate every week instead of every day. Ken and Gabby now had some time to spare, so they were planning to play a little Skyllian-Five poker, and asked if I wanted in. I told them to deal me in, but to go easy on me since I'm a rookie. Ken just smiled and said it was all friendly, and Gabby just scoffed. An hour later, I walked away with 500 credits that had previously belonged to both of them. Ken just said sulkily that he couldn't believe that he'd fell for the rookie act, and Gabby said that it was worth losing to see him taken down a notch. Ken finished by saying that I was alright in his books.

That done and the ship ready to leave after I recruited Archangel, I went up to talk to Mordin, see how he was settling in. I saw that Zaeed had set himself up down in one of the cargo holds, but he seemed to be entertaining Kelly right now, so I let him be. I went into the lab and was impressed at the layout. It was small, but had an efficient use of space. Mordin was busily using a terminal, a smile on his face. I walked up to him and he looked up, terminal seemingly forgotten. I asked him if the lab was ok.

He just gave a coy smile, at least I think it was, and said he'd found a few surveillance bugs. He'd destroyed most of them, but had handed the expensive one back to Miranda. I could just imagine the look on her face. I asked him if he would make a sweep of my quarters later, as I suspected that the Illusive Man had probably had them installed everywhere. Besides, I remembered something one of the Shadow Broker's agents had said to me once: eventually, any data gets loose and who knows where it might end up. Mordin agreed, and then answered my original questions and said that the _Normandy_ had an impressive lab setup. He was glad to have a budget to work with again, and EDI had been very helpful. This was one of the best lab set-ups since working with the STG.

I asked him about the STG, and he said it was similar to the Spectres – elite, clandestine operatives given wide-ranging powers and responsibilities with little government oversight and lots of funding. The Spectres were actually modelled after the STG, though weren't as well funded- STG operatives weren't expected to buy their own weapons. I curiously said this didn't sound like a research organisation, and he replied it was, and that he had also performed some recon missions as well, studying the genophage. Those missions had been performed under the purview of a young captain Kirrahe, the same STG captain I'd worked with on Virmire. Mordin reminisced that he had been a good captain, loved his speeches, but personally thought he was a bit of a cloaca. Knowing a little bird biology from high school, I knew what he meant. I thanked him and left him, and he said that if we found any new samples or data on the Collectors, he'd be glad to analyse it to make some new tech.

I then asked him if he'd heard anything about Daniel, his former assistant. He said that Daniel was fine, the neighbourhood was quiet and safe again, but he'd left the mechs just in case. He also muttered that he never actually used them, he got annoyed at the noise they made and with his STG training he didn't need them to back him up. I asked him if he regretted the limited facilities on Omega, running his clinic. With a look of shock he replied that he actually loved it, the challenge of limited facilities – trying to save the largest number of people with a small number of resources. The mercenaries only added to the difficulty, and made it more exciting. He quickly added that he also enjoyed saving lives, a nice retirement after work with the STG.

I went back out into the CIC, walking up to my private terminal and pulling up the dossier for Archangel again. EDI had apparently updated it since yesterday, since it now had some more exploits on Omega, but nothing new about who he actually was. Kelly came up behind me from the elevator, a smile on her face. She told me that I should really go and talk to Zaeed some time, he was a great conversationalist. I thanked her, and told her I would sometime. I opened the intercom and said that I was going groundside on Omega to recruit Archangel in 30 minutes, and that if you any crew wanted some action, speak up now. Miranda replied first that she was staying on the ship, that something required her attention. Her tone of voice was odd, a mix of different inflections and I couldn't quite place it. Jacob said that there was something he needed to do groundside solo, so count him out this time. That left only Zaeed and Mordin. Zaeed replied enthusiastically, while Mordin took a while to realise that he was the only one left. He just set some programs to run and walked over to the armoury, picking out a pistol and a SMG, before returning to the lab. I just went up and got into my armour, before coming down and meeting Zaeed as he pulled out a sniper and assault rifles and slung them onto his back. Both of the weapons looked old and well worn, each with scores of notches. He said that each one was worth 10 kills, and while I had no reason not to believe, that would mean he'd killed the equivalent of a medium-sized army with just these weapons. Jacob just watched us as he fiddled with some barrels, before pulling out his own weapons. He may not have been going into an almost certain firefight like we were, but this was Omega.

Anyway, just like I'd said, thirty minutes later saw the four of us in the airlock. Jacob wouldn't elaborate on what he was doing, and EDI gave us some information that she had picked up. Apparently, there was some sort of plan dealing with Archangel among the organised mercenary groups on Omega, and there was a recuiting station in Afterlife. Aria probably had information that would be helpful, if she decided we were worth the time today. We exited the airlock, Jacob heading off in a different direction almost immediately, while Zaeed, Mordin and I walked towards Afterlife.

We got in no problems this time, and got the nod from the batarian at the stairs to go up. This time it was no scans or guns, just a nod to a couch and straight to business from Aria. I asked her what she knew about Archangel, since I wanted to get him. Aria just chuckled mirthlessly, and said that about half of Omega wanted him as well, though I probably was the only one who didn't want him dead. Asking why so many people wanted him dead, she replied that he thought he was doing good. But on Omega, there wasn't such a thing as good, so Archangel was just pissing people off, and apparently it was catching up to him. I said that was perfect for what I needed, and she just replied thatwhich she thought was very interesting. She smiled as she said I'd make a lot of enemies trying to get to Archangel, if I got to him, since he was in a little trouble right now.

Apparently all of Omega's organised mercenary gangs had ganged up to get him. They'd cornered him in his hideout, but couldn't quite get to him and finish him off. They were hiring freelancers to deal with the fact they'd lost so many men. I heard Mordin mutter something about this being an excellent opportunity, but we needed guns, then he seemed to realise that he did have a gun, and then said excellent again. Aria pointed over to a section of the bar, and said that they were hiring freelancers over there, said they'd take me in a heartbeat. To get a better idea of what I was walking into, I asked her which merc groups had joined forces, to which she replied that I was going to have to deal with Blue Suns, Eclipse and the Blood Pack. Three groups that never work together, and the only thing they hate more than each other is Archangel. I asked her if she hated him as well, and she replied she didn't have time for hate, but distrusted them all equally. For now at least, she was happy just to let them kill each other.

I was about to get up when I realised she might have some more information on Archangel. So I asked, but she said she didn't know much, just that he'd arrived on Omega a few months ago. According to her, if you make your own laws, which everyone on Omega does, he makes life difficult. He was reckless and idealistic, but smart enough not to cross her. I stood up and said thanks, and she just wondered if I'd still feel that way when the merc found out what I was doing. I said, more to my team than Aria, that I didn't have time to waste. Aria just said that I had all the time I wanted, but Archangel, not so much.

I walked over to the place she had pointed to, and found a Blue Suns merc standing there. I asked him if this was the place they were hiring, and he said to step inside. I found another Suns merc in there, this time a batarian. He took one look at the fact I was a woman and decent looking, and told me that I was in the wrong place, that the strippers were down the hall. I just pulled out my gun and bet him mine's probably bigger. He changed his tune pretty quickly after that. I asked if this is where to go to head after Archangel, and he replied affirmatively. He said the pay is 500 credits each, that Zaeed and Mordin wouldn't get my share if I died. He also stressed that I was a freelancer, and this didn't make me part of any of the merc groups. He said we had to provide our own weapons and armour, but that didn't look like a problem. After that, he asked if I had any questions.

I only had one: why were they hiring freelancers? He replied that Archangel used to have a team, but they had taken care of that, so now there was only him left. But he had the advantage now, he was hiding in his base and he'd planned for a siege. He'd killed a lot of mercs so far. I said that sounded tough, and he agreed, saying it was like getting a vorcha out of a sewer, which was why they were hiring so many freelancers, because if they threw enough men at him, they'd get him eventually. He told me to go the transport depot outside the club.

The three of us walked out just as a kid walked in, he couldn't have been a day over 18. I asked him how old he was, and he gave me a lot of attitude, saying he was old enough, and he grew up on Omega, so he knew enough as well. Zaeed just muttered loud enough for me to hear that he knew enough to get himself killed. Then the kid pulled out the crappiest pistol I'd ever seen, said he'd just paid 50 credits for it. I reached out and took it from his hands, while he offered only slightly more resistance than a baby holding candy. This guy didn't even know how to hold a gun properly; he just thought he did. I gave the weapon a second's scrutiny, before hitting it hard. It literally fell apart in my hands. I handed him back the pieces, telling him to get his money back. I turned around, calling back to him that he'd thank me later.

I went outside and found the transport station, finding another batarian in Suns armour leaning against an aircar. I told him I was on the mission, and he just hoped I was ready, since Archangel had been annihilating the freelancers. I just said I was ready, the three of us got in and he flew us to the Kima district.

When we got out, we were greeted by a batarian who seemed relieved that he had been sent someone who looked like they can fight. He asked if we had been told about the situation, and he said it wasn't surprising when I said we hadn't. They wouldn't have hired many freelancers if they knew the truth. Archangel had sealed himself in a building, and the only way in and out right now was a very exposed bridge, which he'd turned into a killing field. But he'd been awake for nearly a day so far, he was tired, and beginning to make mistakes. I asked him what the plan was, and he said there was an infiltration team moving into place, the freelancers just had to keep drawing Archangel's fire. Zaeed shouted that was suicide, but the merc just said we looked like we could handle it. He said we should just talk to sergeant Cathka, before giving us one last warning to watch ourselves, since Archangel had already killed dozens of freelancers. Then he left, leaving us to make our way to Cathka.

Zaeed just turned to me and said that getting in to Archangel would be easy, but getting out would be a bitch. I just replied that we should worry about one thing at a time, because we had to find him first. EDI's voice came over the radio and said that all other paths to Archangel had been blocked, and that there was a heavy mech and a gunship that could pose problems. I just said I'd take care of them if I could.

We found the bridge had been blocked by a serries of barricades, but we could go around them. We walked behind the last one, only to have a shot pass right in front of me. Normally, you don't see the bullets, but with my new senses, I could just see a blurred line of heat. I moved a little quicker out of sight after that.

I opened the obvious door and came into a meeting of what looked like the ringleaders of the Eclipse. I heard one salarian say that the freelancers would fail, and after that, Eclipse would send in their mechs. I went up and he was annoyed to see me, just another freelancer with inane questions. I asked him if he had some details about Archangel, and he just replied angrily that he was running out of time. He said he didn't know anything else, except that he had been a whole thornbush in the side of Eclipse since the moment he arrived on Omega, and that he'd killed his brother. His face became a mask of pure venom then, and I didn't feel like sticking around. Just before I left the room, I saw a datapad. I picked it up and saw that it was addressed to Tarak. It didn't make a lot of sense to me since I didn't know the context, but I saw Aria's name mentioned and thought I'd hold onto it, Aria might have some interest in the contents. I walked through the door and found the storage for the mechs the Eclipse leader had mentioned. I found a lot of Lokis and one Ymir, standing in a diagnostic station. It was too big to damage in any obvious way, and the room was too confined to use any weapons, when I saw its programming on a nearby terminal. I didn't know enough about the code to change it, but I thought Mordin might. I asked him to take a look and see if there was any discreet sabotage he could do. He just smiled and went to work, scrolling quickly through the code. He cackled a little when he found something obviously very clever, and he said he'd found the IFF protocols. He switched them off and then said he was done. Zaeed said that was clever, and that anyone who activated that mech now was going to get blown to hell, friend or foe. I gave Mordin a smile, and then moved out, the two of them following me.

I opened the next door, and came face to face with one of the most heavily armoured krogan I had ever seen. He took one look at me and told me to piss off. I asked him about Archangel, and he told me he was a gigantic pain in the ass. Apparently he was a turian, so he was slightly uglier than me. He was also brave, until the odds stacked against him. It sounded personal, so I pressed him on it. Archangel had attacked him solo, and it was the longest fight of his life. He fought until his backup arrived, and then they chased Archangel over half of Omega. He gave them the slip, but he couldn't escape today. I almost thanked him for giving me some new information, but then I realised I might have to kill him later.

I opened another door leading back to the bridge, and opened it just in time to see a vorcha take one to the back of the skull. I ran across the open space and into cover on the other side, looking to my left just long enough to see a turian helmet at the end of the sniper rifle looking out over a balcony. I got into cover and worked my way through the next few rooms alongside the bridge, finding evidence of various illegal activities. I eventually found where a lot of Blue Suns were hanging out, one batarian apparently in charge, looking at a 3D hologram of the area and shouting at someone to get that gunship back in the air. He took one glance at us and then shouted at us to get out, he didn't have time for freelancers. I asked him what his problem was, and he just said we were.

Zaeed just called out to Tarak, the guy in charge I guessed, and asked him what was eating his ass. Tarak seemed to recognise Zaeed, and I asked what was up between them. Tarak said they'd worked together, but he'd never seen Zaeed work for so little, to which Zaeed replied that he'd never seen Tarak act like such a madman. Tarak just said that Archangel had been giving him all kinds of shit recently, and that if we needed anything, we should talk to Jentha. A woman called us over, told us to talk to her. She said that Archangel was a vigilante who thought killing mercs was fun, and couldn't die soon enough. I asked her why that sounded so personal, and she said there was a reason for that. Archangel had attacked Tarak at his home and almost got him, and he'd made her life a living hell ever since. Joining up with the other mercs showed how desperate he was to get Archangel, they were all just as bad as each other.

I left after asking where Cathka was, and I went back outside and ran past the final barricade before the bridge, seeing where someone was working on a gunship, some thugs hanging around the front. I walked up to someone who looked like a leader and said Cathka's name, and he pointed around the back. I walked around to find a batarian using an electrical welder to work on the gunship. He turned it off and turned to me, reminding me that he was 'Sergeant' Cathka. I personally didn't care. He said that we must be the group Salkie had mentioned, and that we were just in time. The infiltration team was almost in position, he was just waiting for the signal while he fixed the ship, because he was the only one Tarak trusted to work on it. He then took out a cigarette and lit it, but it wasn't Earth tobacco he was smoking. I just waved it away and asked if he was coming with us. He just grunted and said he was paid to plan attacks and fix vehicles, not get shot.

Before either of us could say anything else, the infiltration team signalled. Cathka just sighed, stubbed out the smoke, and said it was time for him to get back to work. He picked up a different tool as I listened to the sounds of 'Bravo' team heading out, leaving just the three of us and Cathka. I looked at the welder, and then grabbed it and walked up to Cathka. I remember quipping 'You're working to hard,' before I stabbed the activated welder into the back of his armour, electrocuting him where he stood. It only took a few seconds, but he screamed the whole time. I wasn't concerned, because we were about to blow our cover.

We raced out to the bridge, where Bravo team was still advancing, Archangel taking them down as fast as he could fire, but it still wasn't fast enough to get them all. I pulled out my shotgun and shot the nearest freelancer in the back, alerting the others to my treachery. I advanced quickly; Zaeed and Mordin close behind, the three of us quickly and efficiently taking out freelancers as we advanced. One thing I noticed is that this was a big place, easily enough for a large team, when I saw six full body bags on the floor. I made my way upstairs and found two more in a study, before seeing a door that lead to the balcony. I opened it and entered, gun up, to find Archangel with his back to me, sniper rifle pointing down at the lower floor. I called out his name and he silently held up a finger to quiet me. He just kept on looking down his scope, and from my slightly different angle I could see a freelancer using a pillar as cover, sidling unknowingly into view. As soon as he poked his head out to look around he looked directly at the turian, who quickly shot him between the eyes, splattering his blood all over the floor.

He then turned around, walked over and sat down on a desk, all without a word, before taking off his helmet and revealing someone I hadn't seen in a long time: Garrus. He said something deadpan about thinking I was dead, but I remember being shocked at seeing him. He said he was just as surprised to see me, but it was good to see a friendly face. He just quipped that killing mercs was hard, especially on his own. I asked him why he called himself Archangel now, and he said it was something the locals had started calling him, for all his good deeds. He didn't blush, but his mandibles twitched and he said that it was just Garrus to me, and I realised he was a little embarrassed. I just chuckled, glad to see him again.

I walked up to him and asked him what was the plan now. He just repeated what I already knew, that getting out was a bitch. The bridge had saved his life by forcing them all into scope, but it worked both ways; if we tried going out that way, we'd be slaughtered. I told him that I didn't like the sound of waiting here indefinitely, and he didn't either, but there was a glint in his eye as he said that there were four of us now. All we had to do was hold out until we found a crack in their defence, and then try and shoot out way out. Garrus conceded it wasn't much of a plan, but it was the best we had right now.

It was a little too quiet for my tastes and Garrus thought so too, so he picked up his rifle again and took a look out at the bridge. He said there were scouts coming, and handed me the rifle to see for myself. I looked down the scope and saw a lot of mechs heading in our direction. I just lined one up and squeezed the trigger, turning its head into scrap. I handed his rifle back and told him there was one less now. Garrus told me to go and do my own thing while he stayed here, he could do a lot of damage from this vantage point. I just nodded and prepared myself for the siege.

I ran downstairs to the barricades below the balcony, with a good view of the bridge. I left Zaeed with his sniper rifle on the balcony, while Mordin came down with me. He pulled out both of his weapons, holding the pistol in his left hand and the SMG in his right. I gave him a curious look and he said he had worked with the STG, and was quite adept at dual-wielding. I got a first-hand demonstration pretty quickly, as the first wave of mechs, troops, engineers and vanguards came in too quickly for Zaeed and Garrus to deal with just by sniping. Mordin just used both of his guns to take out targets quickly and efficiently, using the rapid-firing SMG to take out shields and then finishing them off with headshots from the more powerful pistol. He was incredibly accurate too, never wasting a shot. He also had a unique omni-tool, able to send blasts of fire or intense cold at his targets. I just took out targets using shockwaves, sending mercs and mechs flying off the bridge and to their death stories below.

After the first few waves, someone was pissed off enough to send in the heavy mech. But their decision soon turned on them, as the Mordin's act of sabotage meant that the heavy mech fired on anyone or anything too close. So the Eclipse mercs met their end either by the mech's gun or by ours, until the mech was destroyed. Then the leader came out, and he was pissed. That salarian had strong shields and armour, and knew how to use an omni-tool to his advantage. But they didn't save him in the end.

Once he was dead, Garrus called out to come and talk to him on the balcony. I jogged back up, walking around the bodies of the mercs I'd shot before. Garrus just smiled and told me I was kicking ass, just like old times, and that we'd killed Jaroth in the process. He told me that the salarian had been shipping tainted eezo all over the galaxy. Garrus had taken out a big shipment a few weeks ago and had managed to kill his brother in the process, so wasn't surprised to see him working with Tarak and Garm. He picked up his rifle again and looked out over the bridge.

He said it didn't look good; they'd heavily reinforced the other side, but didn't seem to be moving. He wondered what they were waiting for, when the floor shook from an explosion below. Garrus just cursed and said they'd breached the lover level, and that they had to use their brains eventually. He told me to go down and deal with it; he'd hold the bridge. I offered to leave someone behind, and he said he didn't know what I'd find down there. I told Mordin to stay here, and Zaeed to come with me. Garrus said the door to the lower levels was on the west side, under the stairs.

Zaaed and I rushed downstairs, finding an open security shutter door. I pressed the emergency seal, and the shutter closed. We then had two more to go, one east and one west. We went east first, into a maintenance area full of ducts. Also full of vorcha, which we blasted away. One got closer than I'd like, giving my armour a charred coat with a flamethrower as I turned a corner. I just pulled the trigger on my shotgun, pulling off a lucky shot and rupturing his fuel tank, the ensuing explosion sending bits of him everywhere, including sizzling on my still-hot armour. I just ignored the sounds and smells of roasting vorcha and got to the seal, shutting it completely.

Zaeed and I then made our way back and over to the west shutter. There was some sort of loading dock over there, crammed haphazardly with vehicles, crates and junk metal. Zaeed and I used it as cover when we needed to, both of us shifting instantly into urban warfare mode. One of us would take cover and fire forward at targets while the other moved up. We kept this up, shooting at vorcha, varren and the occasional krogan until we reached the seal. We pressed it, but there was a krogan a little too close and the automatic safety kicked in, keeping the door open. Zaeed and I just fired into him with all we had until his dead body slid to the floor in front of us. I kicked it out of the way of the shutter and pressed the seal again, this time working like it was supposed to.

With the last shutter sealed, Garrus came over the radio, telling us that they had broken through the other door near the kitchen, and there were a lot of them. I ran back, Zaeed only one step behind me. We got there just in time to see Garrus shoot a vorcha, but before the big krogan I met before could focus on Garrus, I took out another vorcha as a distraction. The krogan shouted and ran upstairs as the rest of the vorcha pinned me down with some suppressing fire. A varren ran right at me and leapt, jaws wide for the killing bite. I just let it come and when the moment came, I slammed it in the eye with my fist, sending it crashing to the floor in a daze. I just stomped on its neck and heard a loud snap, over the sounds of Zaeed firing at the vorcha. I ran up the stairs and blasted a krogan in the back. I didn't stop though, because I could hear the sounds of gunfire from the balcony.

I walked in to find the big krogan in the red armour, angry as hell and using biotics at will. I pulled out an SMG and fired, the sound small compared to the assault rifles Garrus and Zaeed used. The krogan was focused on Garrus initially, but when he saw me his face became a mask of rage. He ran towards me, his biotic barrier giving out and bullets now ricocheting off his armour. If he wanted to make this personal, I was going to get personal. I used my biotics to charge at him, but the shockwave did little more than stop him in his tracks. I tried to fire my shotgun into a weak point in his armour, but he wouldn't let me get a shot off. He then knocked away my gun, forcing me to grab his gun to stop him splattering me all over the walls. We wrestled with the gun, the other three taking shots at the krogan as best they could. I could see several making wounds on him, but they seemed to be healing right before my eyes. I'd finally had enough. I focused some biotic power into my arms, adding to my strength, and I managed to get leverage on his shotgun. I pointed the barrel until it was under his chin and jammed my elbow into his trigger hand. The jolt worked and the trigger finger pulled, sending the shot up under his chin, killing him instantly.

Garrus and Zaeed pulled the dead krogan off of me, Garrus telling me he was impressed. He'd fought Garm once before and he was a tough son of a bitch then as well, one of the fastest regenerators he'd ever seen, a real freak of nature. He said that with Eclipse and the Blood Pack dealt with, it might be a good time to try and make a break for it. He used his rifle scope to check out the bridge, when an amplified voice screamed out 'Archangel!'

That's when the gunship descended, firing rockets into the windows. Garrus cursed and tried to line up a shot, but before he could there was a blast and the sounds of breaking glass to our right. Apparently, the Blue Suns had their own way of getting in now the gunship was running: rappelling down the walls from the roof. They came in the balcony window, a mix of humans, batarians and turians, lead by none other than Jentha. She just let out a guttural sound of betrayal as she saw the three of us, firing her rocket launcher at us as fast as it would fire. The four of us took cover and fought back, firing at anything wearing blue. Eventually, even Jentha fell, and then we heard another window break on the floor below. Apparently, the kitchen was a popular place, as Blue Suns were now streaming in from there, a good number of them with rocket launchers. Once more, using the cover of the windowsills, the four of us shot the mercs, teamwork without parallel.

What we hadn't noticed is that while we were distracted with the mercs downstairs, the gunship had been moving up behind us. Once the last of them was down we turned around, only to hear Tarak's voice blasted at us, shouts of unintelligible rage as he used the cannon under the cockpit to spray the balcony with fire. Zaeed and Mordin managed to find cover quickly, and I got to cover before my barrier gave out, but Garrus wasn't so lucky. He'd been caught in the open, and I saw him take a couple of bad hits and go down. When he didn't get back up again I gripped my gun so hard I must have made an impression.

Once the cannon stopped to discharge all the spent heat sinks, the three of us still standing came up firing. Zaeed just held down the trigger on his assault rifle, I blasted away with my shotgun and Mordin put away his SMG in order to combo with the more powerful pistol and incendiary attacks against weak points in the gunship's armour. Between the three of us, one of us must have hit something vital, as there was a series of small explosions and then one of the engines violently exploded, sending the gunship down onto the bridge. It landed awkwardly, teetering on the edge for a few seconds before tipping over and into the abyss. We heard it hit something about 10 seconds later, followed by a huge fireball. None of us went to check it, we all knew nothing could survive that.

I walked over to Garrus' body. I saw two big holes around the neck of his armour, his eyes closed and a pool of blue blood on the floor. The right side of his face was a blood-covered mess, and he didn't look like he was breathing. I knelt next to him, about to say a small prayer, when his eyes opened and he gasped violently. I immediately saw a small squirt of blood and my hand went there immediately, applying pressure. Luckily it was my left hand, which meant my right had was free to activate my omni-tool and apply some medi-gel from my armour directly onto the wound. As I watched him struggle to breathe, I saw him grip his rifle barrel with one hand. I told Mordin to radio the Normandy, to tell them to get ready for someone to go into immediate surgery. I then keyed in a frequency I knew Jacob would be listening, given his ex-Alliance background. It was a channel you always watched for emergency transmissions.

I remember shouting Jacob's name, and hearing him on the other end. He sounded annoyed, but I didn't give him time to say much. I told him to get his ass in a vehicle and told him the address where we were, and that he had five minutes to be there. He acknowledged quickly, and then I didn't hear anything. I just kept at my first aid training, even though it probably wasn't as effective given he was a turian. After what seemed like an eternity Jacob arrived, landing below the balcony and sticking his head out. He obviously hadn't been expecting recruiting Archangel to involve fighting a small war.

He asked what the hell happened here, and I told him to bring the aircar up to the balcony, Garrus couldn't be moved far. He complied and brought it up, handing the controls over to Mordin and helping me Zaeed and I lift the turian from the floor to the car, keeping him as still as possible. He kept coughing up blood, but we managed to get him in alive. I told Mordin to get us to the Normandy ASAP, and he just nodded, for once with nothing to say.

Again, it seemed like eternity as we just sat there, applying what first aid we could, before Mordin told us we were there. I looked up and found he had managed to park right outside the Normandy airlock. Dr Chakwas, Miranda and several crewmen with a stretcher came right up to us, and the doctor took immediate charge of the situation. Her face showed obvious concern when she saw Garrus, but she didn't allow it to affect her work. She and the crewmen with the stretchers rushed him directly to the medbay, while I just sat there, not sure what to do.

Eventually I got up and went to my cabin, telling EDI to inform me of the progress on Garrus as I took off my armour and took a shower. I had just finished my shower when the intercom signalled. It was coming from the armoury, Jacob's station. Apparently, he had something for me. I changed into my casual clothes and went down to the armoury. Jacob waved me over to a table he was hunched over. Once I was there he handed me a pistol. I raised an eyebrow and he said this is what he'd been doing on Omega today. It was called the Phalanx, and was a lot more powerful than just about anything. It was just out of testing, so very hard to come by. But he had some friends in low places, who managed to send him a single one.

It was a lot smaller than other pistols I'd held, but it was heavier. It had a similar double-barreled look to most pistols on the market, but Jacob showed me something. He pushed a small button on the side of the gun, easily reachable with the trigger finger, and a blue laser-light shone from the lower barrel. He said it was for precision aiming. I held it up like I would a normal pistol, but I didn't fire it. I liked the feel of it in my hand, and I turned and thanked him. I was about to ask him what had brought on this act of generosity when EDI spoke over the intercom. She said the Garrus was out of surgery now, and would make a full recovery. I thanked EDI, and told Jacob to come with me to the briefing room.

Jacob said that he'd walked past the medbay while I was in the shower, and the Garrus had taken a pretty bad hit. Apparently Dr Chakwas and the Cerberus surgeon had done what they could, and had to use a little cybernetics. Garrus would be fully functional, and he started to say something else when Garrus himself walked in, the right side of his face covered in bandages. Jacob just muttered that Garrus was one tough son of a bitch, and that he didn't think he'd be up yet. Garrus just said that no-one would give him a mirror, so he didn't know how bad it was. I jokingly told him that he was just as ugly as he always was, and if he slapped some face-paint on, no-one would know the difference. He laughed before wincing in pain, telling me not to make him laugh as his face was barely holding together. He continued that some women find facial scars attractive, and then his face dropped when he said most of them were krogan. Jacob just smiled and saluted, getting that he wasn't needed in this conversation.

Once Jacob was out of the room and the door closed behind him Garrus gave me a concerned look. He told me he was more concerned about me than his face. He asked me why Cerberus, was I forgetting the sick experiments we had found as we went after Saren? I told him I hadn't forgotten, and that if I was walking into hell, I wanted someone I trusted at my side. He just quipped that this plan had him walking into hell as well, just like old times. He said he'd be fit for duty whenever I needed him, and that he'd see what he could do at the forward battery.

After that I went to the CIC and asked Kelly if anything interested happened while I was out. She said that I had some new messages, so I pulled them up my private terminal. On a hunch, I also pulled up the information from the account I had used to pay for everything so far. It held a better balance than I'd expected, as apparently the Illusive Man had been giving me a generous allowance for completing missions. I wasn't sure if I liked the implications attached to the credits, but I didn't exactly have anything else. I'd have to fix that.

There was an email from Anderson that was pretty terse, like he only had a minute to write it. It was interestingly worded, as he had only had rumours that I was alive. My mind went back to the visitor the watch reported from yesterday, and wondered if he was an Alliance contact. In either case, he wanted me to come and meet him if I was able to, as we needed to talk. I had to admit, I had a little smile on my face as I read the message, because it meant that I wasn't completely alone in the galaxy.

After reading that message I checked the rest of them and sighed. Even 200 years after the internet, and thousands of years of the galactic extranet, spam email still was rampant. I just deleted them, and decided I needed a drink. I didn't want to go back out to Omega, and we didn't have a bar on the Normandy, but I did remember something. I went into the elevator and went down one deck.

I walked into the medbay, which was surprisingly clean given that Garrus had just had major surgery not too long ago. Dr Chakwas turned around and greeted me warmly, thanking me for the bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy she had received from me. I asked her if she felt like opening this one, to join me in a birthday drink. She just smiled and then grabbed the bottle and a couple of glasses nearby, opening the brandy and pouring a generous measure into both of the glasses. I sat down opposite her and then we clinked glasses, taking a sip of the strong blue liquid, before talking about old times on the SSV _Normandy_. I don't know how long we talked for, but after her telling a story about Jenkins and Alenko, and about how people like that made the Alliance great, I felt really ashamed at where we were. She continued that Cerberus lacks the same enthusiasm, and I just nodded in agreement. I asked her why she really left the Alliance and joined Cerberus, and she just sighed heavily.

She told me that this was less about leaving and more about staying. Being a military doctor taught her that people either die, or get better and move on, and I picked up that she was lonely. I asked if she had friends or family, and she replied she wasn't lacking them, but stability. She said Joker will always have Vrolik's Syndrome, and that he'd never admit it, but he needed her. I just thought to myself that maybe it's more that she needed him. I said something about how treating Joker gave her a kind of stability and she nodded, then said maybe it was the ship. Or maybe it was me, someone constant, a person to rally around and hold fast with. Then she said with a little giggle that maybe she was just happily drunk. I raised my glass to that, saying that happily drunk was good enough for me. She cheered with me on that, and we finished our glasses.

She then tried to stand up, but needed me to catch her. She was a really happy drunk, and she just burst out laughing as I helped her over to one of the beds nearby. She helped me as much as she could, laughing and giggling as I put her on the bed, before lying down and falling asleep very quickly. I looked down at her with a sad smile, realising just a little how fragile everything could be. All it would take was one stray bullet, and everything would be lost, and not just for me, but a lot of people. I staggered back to the elevator, the floor swaying as I did, and went up to my quarters to sleep off the brandy.

I got in and collapsed on the bed, but I didn't go to sleep yet. As with many drunks, I was suddenly hungry. I opened a line to the mess and asked Gardner to send up some food. 10 minutes later the cook himself was there handing me a plate. I thanked him, and then asked him if we had anything for dextros like Garrus aboard. He said there were a few things, but they were even worse quality then the stuff us levos had to eat. I took one bite of what he assured me was a vegetable korma, and decided our next stop was going to be the Citadel. There was no way I was going to put up with this food for much longer. I just said thanks, and told him I'd bring the plate back down later. He just nodded and left, and I opened a line to Joker on the flight deck.

I asked him if he enjoyed the food, and he replied it was slightly better than deep-friend roadkill, but only slightly. I told him I agreed with him, and that it was time to get something decent. I told him to set a course for the Citadel, and he just said something about finally getting away from this scrap-heap of a station. I was about to close the channel when he said the EDI had just picked up something. I told him to let her tell me, so he closed the channel and EDI's blue hologram appeared near the door. She said in a voice that was full of emotion by AI standards that news had just come in that another human colony had been abducted: Ferris Fields. I cursed, and then I remembered that Hadley had a brother on Ferris Fields, and cursed some more. But there was nothing we could do; Ferris Fields was on the other side of the galaxy from Omega. I told EDI to alert the crew to this, and privately tell Kelly to keep an eye on Hadley for any signs of mental problems.

As far as birthdays go, this one kinda sucked. We've lost another colony, and I'm still stuck with an organisation that I still don't trust, and probably never will. I had to kill people, Garrus almost died right in front of me, and now he's more like me that I want.

So yeah… happy birthday to me…


	6. Friends, Money and Being Dead

Chapter 5 – Friends, Money and the Problems of Being Dead

April 12, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

En Route to Ismar Frontier

My day started out simply enough: wake up, dress, read reports. There was understandably nothing on the watch reports, since we had spent most of it travelling FTL. EDI did bring up something on my terminal she thought might grab my attention. Apparently, the Illusive Man had been negotiating with Kasumi Goto, one of the best thieves in the galaxy. She'd been waiting on the Citadel for me to arrive, and had apparently done something to make sure that I would notice her. When I saw her, I just had to give her the password 'silence is golden,' and we'd be square.

After that, I called up Joker down on the flight deck. He told me the ETA to the Citadel was about one hour, and that it would probably take longer to dock, since we had to navigate our way through the wards docks. Joker muttered angrily about missing the Alliance dock on the Presidium, and I just turned off the channel. I got up and went down to the mess for what was going to be the last bad breakfast of this mission.

I got down there and Gardner was cooking up a storm, and the results that ended up on my plate certainly looked like it had been washed up on a beach somewhere. To his credit, it didn't taste horrible, but it was a far cry from decent. He didn't complain though, he just stoically took the jibes and cleaned up all the dishes. As he was doing so, I walked over and brought him my plate from the day before. As he thanked me for being considerate, I told him that I would come through on my promise for better food and ingredients. He actually smiled this time, saying he didn't doubt me, since he'd heard about what I'd done for Ken and Gabby. It was a small ship, so I wasn't surprised that he'd heard about it.

I saw Garrus slowly wincing his way through a meal, though I wasn't sure if that was the pain of his wounds or the taste of the meal. I sat down opposite him, waiting for him to finish chewing a mouthful before I spoke. I reminded him that I'd pulled his ass out of a fire yesterday, and that he'd promised me a tale about how he got himself into that particular fire in the first place. He twitched his good mandible in a way that I remembered was a smile. He said that he remembered that deal, and that after he was finished eating here, he'd be glad to regale me.

I waited patiently until he was finished, and then he looked around at all the humans wearing Cerberus uniforms. He nodded at me, standing up and walking away from the table and towards the forward battery. I got up and followed him until the door closed behind us, the two of us washed in the red light of the room. He deactivated the gunnery controls and then leaned on it for support, while I sat down on a nearby crate.

Once I was seated, he looked directly at me. After the _Normandy_ was destroyed, he'd gone back to C-Sec. It worked for a few months, but then he eventually got tired of being back where, more often than not, the bad guys got away, while good people got ignored and forgotten. So he'd left, didn't have a destination or a plan, he just needed to go. Eventually he'd ended up on Omega.

It started out just as helping people in need, protecting them from thugs and mercs trying to take advantage of them. He'd kept his identity secret, and eventually word started to get around. It got to the point that one day he was contacted by someone who wanted to join him. It had just kept going from there until he had a team of eleven, and him as the leader. They weren't separated by race, since there was a real mix of species. His tech guy was even a batarian, not the friendliest guy, but he could hack anything apparently. They all had military or private security training though, so they worked together well. They would find out about a merc activity about to go down that would inevitably hurt innocents, like Jaroth's tainted eezo shipping. That's when they'd go to work.

A few of them would shoot at the mercs to get their attention, and lure them to follow. The mercs would then find themselves in a kill zone, perfect crossfire trajectories, no way out, nowhere to shoot back. This all went fine, until one of his team betrayed them all. While Garrus was out, the some mercs came and assaulted their base. Garrus came back to find eight of them already dead, and the two that weren't didn't live long. He only had enough time to put them all in body bags before the mercs returned. He pulled off his visor and tossed it to me. Inscribed into the metal were eleven names, except one near the end, which had been burnt off recently. I couldn't read the turian script, but I had a pretty good idea that this was the traitor Garrus had talked about. As I handed it back, he said that if he ever found Sidonis, he would make him pay. I was about to say something to discourage him, but then I remembered Toombs and what I did to Wayne.

I stood up, not sure what to say. The two of us just stood there for a while, two soldiers different from what we used to be. We looked into each other's eyes and just knew that there were no words that could adequately describe what we felt. I asked him if he felt up to leaving the ship, and he said he'd go and grab his crutches. He said it with a smile, and I smiled back at his joke, before opening the door and leaving. I walked past the mess again and saw that there was an office just like the Captain's Office on the old _Normandy_, except this one had XO written on the wall next to the door. I walked up to the door, and heard raised voices on the other side. I just listened for a while, hearing Miranda shouting at someone, who was much calmer since I couldn't make out what they were saying. Miranda was saying something about 'how close is he?' and 'how many people know right now?'

I considered just walking away, but then I thought about it some more. I needed to trust my crew, even if I didn't trust the organisation. And I couldn't trust anyone I didn't know. I had people like Zaeed, Garrus and Mordin on board because I needed specialists, but they couldn't fly the ship by themselves. The crew were still Cerberus, and Miranda essentially represented Cerberus for this ship. She talked to the Illusive Man directly, was in command of the project that resurrected me, and it wouldn't surprise me if she had a Cerberus logo tattooed somewhere. But as I'd said before, she'd be a powerful ally if she were on my side. So once she'd finished talking, I pressed the signal button.

She opened the door almost instantly, and I saw her sitting behind a desk. Another representation of how separated we were. She briefly had a deep frown on her face, which she cleared up as she saw it was me standing before her. I asked her if she had a minute to talk, and she pointed me to a nearby bench sofa against the wall. I took the proffered seat and got comfortable.

I asked her what she did on the ship, aside from the obvious duties as XO and keeping an eye on me. She replied that she was the Illusive Man's agent, and I was his most important asset. Her job was to make sure that I succeeded in my mission, and to report our status to the Illusive Man regularly. She continued that I must have a lot of questions about Cerberus, but assured me that Cerberus wasn't as evil as a lot of people imagined. If there was something she could do to allay my concerns, she was happy to talk about them.

I was willing to let that conversation be for now, because right now I wanted to know her. When I asked that question she said it was fair, since she'd spent the last 2 years getting to know me about as intimately as you can ever know a person without being their lover. Like a lot of humans these days she'd had some genetic modification, though in her case the modification was a lot more extensive. Because of that, she was good at almost anything she chose to do, which was one of the reasons that the Illusive Man trusted her so much as an agent. I asked just how much more genetic modification she had done, and she said it was very thorough. She would heal quickly, and probably would live half a lifetime longer than the average. Her biotics were also above average, not as strong as an asari, but strong for a human. She was starting to sound a little like Wolverine from the old X-men comics, when they were still printed on paper that is. Add to that some of the best training and education that money could buy, and you got the person sitting before me.

From the way she talked about it, she sounded like she was perfect by design. She quickly said that she wasn't. She was still human, and made mistakes like everyone else. But in her position, mistakes had more serious consequences. Everyone expected a lot from her. I told her that she didn't sound like she lacked for confidence, and she said her genetic modification was just a fact. Her reflexes, her strength, her biotic, even her looks, were engineered to be better, so she might as well use them. That's why the Illusive Man put her in charge of the most dangerous, risky and technical operations Cerberus did, projects like me.

She gave me a lot to think about with that conversation, so I thanked her and then left. After the door closed behind me, I walked to the elevator and went back to the combat deck. As I did I thought about Miranda's genetic modification. Someone with modifications like she described would have had to get them young for them to develop properly, and it would have been excruciatingly painful. I remembered my own modification process; it was less than pleasant. As the elevators door opened, I looked at the time on my omni-tool. I still had some time left, so I decided to have a talk with Jacob.

I opened the armoury door to find him with a pair of magnification specs, working on modifying a shotgun. He looked up at the sound of the door, lifting off the specs. He said there hadn't been a lot of time to really take stock of the mission, to settle in after investigating Freedom's Progress. He was glad to be part of the team though, to have an opportunity to do something that really matters. He said with a smile that is was a privilege to serve on the Normandy. I told him that was a risky prospect, since the original Normandy ended up destroyed. Jacob just replied that as long as the Illusive Man walks his walk, and I do the same, that there wouldn't be any issues. He'd had issues with Cerberus and their activities in the past though, that sometimes made him question his choice of allegiance.

I pressed him further on that, and he said that a lot of people called Cerberus terrorists, and with good reasons. Some of the things they had done I'd seen myself. Jacob continued that if we proved the Collector threat was real, and then show it was Cerberus that had done something and stopped them, maybe they would be seen in a better light. That definitely sounded like the Illusive Man to me, a real 'end justifies the means' kind of mind. Jacob then put on a smirk and said the alternative was to be tried and executed, he couldn't count on anyone else thinking about it as hard as he had. I didn't say anything; I just studied his face for a few seconds.

I eventually told him that I appreciated his honesty, that we were almost two of a kind. He said that was an honour to him more than to me. I asked him about his service after he left the Alliance. He said that he and Miranda had worked together to stop a batarian plot to use a bioweapon against the Council. Took them all the way out to the Nemean Abyss and back. He said it wasn't well known because it was all hushed up, governments were good at doing that. He said they don't like to let the public know how close the bad guys could get. He paused for a second while he tried to find a saying: 'good deeds are like pissing your pants in the dark'- you get a warm feeling, but no one else notices. He knew what he'd done though, which was enough for him. I asked him what he thought our chances of success were, honestly. He said that with Mordin's work in the lab, we might have a chance. If it didn't, we'd end up dead, but there was a good chance of that anyway.

After asking these few questions, Jacob seemed hesitant to tell me more, said he wasn't big on forcing talks like these. I was about to leave and go back to my quarters when Joker sent out a ship-wide broadcast saying that we were five minutes out from docking. I turned back to Jacob and told him that I wanted him out there today. He gave a little smile, and I told him that we probably wouldn't need weapons on the Citadel today. He said that I was welcome to go without, but he would keep his shotgun. I walked over to the intercom as Jacob opened the weapons locker and told Garrus to get his crutch and his gun if he wanted, but he was needed in the airlock in about five minutes. He just said he'd be there.

I turned back around and walked back to the weapons locker, pulling out the weapons from my section. I was optimistic, but not stupid. The Citadel may be the centre of galactic society, but it was still filled with people who had guns, legal or otherwise. Jacob just gave me a sidelong glance that screamed 'I told you so,' and I told him to shut it. I took my weapons back up to my cabin and donned my armour. Thankfully, the locker in my cabin also had a handy auto-cleaning feature. I took the suit out and there were no bits of vorcha still on it, but I suspected it would take a few more washes before the smell of burnt vorcha was gone.

After my armour was on and weapons slung to the magnetic holsters, I went back down to the airlock to find Jacob and Garrus waiting for me. We all stepped in and EDI closed the doors behind us and ran the pressure equalisation. Joker came over the channel and said that the best he could do was to get us a dock near the C-Sec station on Zakera Ward, so we could go through customs quickly. We got out and sure enough, a nearby sign pointed out that the customs office was only 500 metres away.

The three of us walked down that direction until we came to the customs office. There we found a couple of hanar flashing at each other, a turian having trouble with a customs agent, a few ad stands and Alliance newbies being chewed out by a drill sergeant. Reminded me of Gunny Ellison back on Titan. We walked towards the tunnel door when one of the ads suddenly glitched. A woman in a dark hood looked out at me, right at me. I couldn't see her eyes clearly, but there was something that made them glow, like a light shining in them. She called out my name specifically, and then said something about entering the password for a fabulous prize.

I turned and walked toward the ad, and gave the password I was given – 'silence is golden.'

Kasumi's image said that it was good to finally meet me, that she was a fan of my work. I heard her voice coming from the ad stand, but there was a strange echo to it, like talking to someone on a communicator when they're in earshot. She had to be close by, but this place had too many places to hide to try finding her if she didn't want to be found. I asked her why she was working for Cerberus. She replied that Cerberus was looking for her, so she trailed them to see what was going on. They needed talented people to join my mission, and they were offering a serious signing bonus. She didn't care so much about the money, but she did have something that needed outside help, so she made the Illusive Man a deal. A deal he conveniently forgot to tell me about, like with Zaeed.

I asked her for the details, since it was the first I'd heard of it. She just rolled her eyes, like it was typical or something, and then told me her partner's greybox had been stolen by a man named Donovan Hock, and she planned to steal it back. I asked her what a greybox was, to start. She told me it was a neural implant, dangerous to use and highly illegal. It stored memories, thoughts, codes, ciphers and illicit information. Her partner had been Keiji Okuda, one of the best hackers and entrymen alive. He used to be like her, invisible, but one day he made a mistake and made himself infamous. He came across information and stole it, information that would spark interstellar war. He never told her what it was, just that it was dangerous, that humanity could be in jeopardy if it got out. Hock found out about it and killed him for it, but Keiji had encrypted the information in memories. To get to it, you needed to sift through the memories of Keiji and Kasumi and the time they spent together. She almost had a tear in her eye as she said that those memories were all that was left of him now.

I told her that I understood, and she said it would be easier with my help. I told her if I was going to help her pull a heist, I needed some information on the target. She told me Hock was a 'legitimate businessman,' so he was of course deep into gun running, murder, all the fun vices, basically not a nice guy. His mansion was apparently famous for being next to impossible to break into. But now that I was on the case with her, she had a way in and apparently, I'd love it. I asked her if she was expecting trouble, and she said she always expected trouble, which was why she needed me this time. I asked about the heist plan so far, and she said that would have to wait for another time, since she was still working on the details. She said it would be fun, and if I was lucky, I wouldn't even need to shoot my gun.

Right after that, the ad stand turned off and retracted back into the floor. She told me to turn around, and I heard her voice above me. I turned around and looked up, to see Kasumi for the first time. Her costume was black and dark grey, skin-tight and form-fitting on her lithe body. Her hood was still up, hiding her face from view. She just said I looked silly talking to an ad like that, and I had to agree. She just waved and told me she'd be on the ship, before activating some kind of cloaking device as she turned around. I imagine on the battlefield it would be an effectively invisible. Maybe it was the fact I was staring at her on a space station, or maybe my genetically or cybernetically enhanced sight, but I swore I could see a human-shaped shimmer of static as she walked away.

I just shrugged my shoulders and nodded my head towards the security checkpoint. It was a tunnel with windows into offices filled with the blue and black of C-Sec agents. I was stopped just before the door to the station proper by a turian, whose name printed on the uniform was Haron. The name was on a cycling holographic badge, which flashed a different script every 5 seconds or so. I stared at it because there was nothing better to do while I was scanned. I was about to walk on through when there suddenly alarms started blaring. Jacob said something about our weapons possibly not being allowed in the Ward. Sergeant Haron talked into his ear mike, telling someone to shut down the alarms. He then asked a few more incredulous questions, before looking up at me. He said he was sorry for the inconvenience and alarms, but the scanner was telling him that I was dead.

I was about to tell him I was listed as MIA a few years ago, but I was feeling in a witty mood. I told him instead that I'd been mostly dead, which wasn't exactly an option available on government paperwork. He smiled and chuckled at my joke, but told me seriously that I should talk to Captain Bailey inside. I said I would, and he opened the door for me. I walked inside and found someone with captain's markings on his uniform sitting at a desk nearby. What really surprised me was that it was a human. Last I checked, which was admittedly two years ago, there wasn't any human above lieutenant in C-Sec. I walked over to him anyway, and he looked at his console, and then me, fingers tapping holographic keys. He told me that according to the database here on the Citadel, and a lot of other places, I was dead.

I asked him how he knew it was me, and not some impostor. He just said simply that the scanner worked on DNA, and that you can't fool that. Apparently, it was so accurate it could detect unregistered gene mods. I wasn't about to argue tech with him. I asked him if there was any way to fix the whole 'being dead' paperwork problem. He said that I'd have to get my IDs reactivated at Station Security Administration, go to Customs and get permissions to even be on the Citadel again, and finally the Treasury, since apparently 'spending a year dead' was a popular tax dodge. He said that, and other things, would probably take me more than a week to do, or he could just press a button. I didn't fancy all the red tape, so I told him to do it. He did so with no great enthusiasm, and said that while it was none of his business, I should probably go and see the Council. They'd probably like to know one of their Spectres wasn't as dead as previously believed. I said I would, and then left out into the Ward proper.

I found an Avina interface pretty quickly, the purple holographic asari giving me the standard greeting. I asked her where there were quality food outlets nearby, and she said the nearest one was just next to the C-Sec, the Zakera Café. I thanked her and walked away in the direction she had given me. I walked in to find a turian behind the counter, and a human and salarian talking to him like friends. I saw a kiosk nearby and walked up to it. I scrolled past the eat in meals and looked at the list of ingredients available for purchase. I saw all assortment of fruit, vegetables and meats, for both levo and dextro. From what I knew of food, this stuff was well above restaurant quality. I selected a whole lot of levo provisions, and then asked Garrus his opinion on the dextro stuff. He scrolled through it and selected some more things, but since he was the only one going to eat it, he didn't get them in the same quantities as the levo stuff. I bought everything, and the manager looked at the order and raised the turian equivalent of an eyebrow when he looked at me. He asked me what I needed so much food for, and I just told him that I had a crew to feed, and I was sick of crap food. He just said that he'd need someone to take delivery. I looked at Garrus and Jacob, and they just rolled their eyes.

The manager said the arrangements would take about 20 minutes, and I said that Jacob and Garrus would handle everything. Garrus just asked me what I was going to do while he and Jacob did all the heavy lifting. I just said that I was going to visit an old friend. Garrus looked at me for a second, and then nodded. I left him and Jacob there and walked over to a nearby taxi rank. I got in and told him I needed to go the Presidium, the office of Councillor Anderson. He just nodded and pulled out, zooming towards the ring at the centre of the Citadel.

Ten minutes later I was walking through the halls of the Council offices. They were similar to the Embassy offices. I wondered if now that the humans were on the Council, the volus or elcor ambassadors had been moved into Udina's old office. These offices were much larger though, and higher, since they were in the tower itself. They had a commanding view of the Presidium ring, with the artificial lake reservoirs and the Conduit.

I walked into Anderson's office to find him already in conference with the Council. He must have been tracking me ever since my ID was reactivated at C-Sec, so knew I was coming. He was dressed in a suit of mostly blue, with spots of red and yellow. He greeted me and gave me a handshake. I told him it was good to see him, and he said it was likewise, though there had been a few rough spots. The salarian councillor then spoke up, saying there had been a lot of rumours concerning me, some of them unsettling. The asari councillor said that this meeting was for me to explain my actions, since I had saved them all two years ago.

I told them that I was investigating the abductions of human colonies, and had proof the Collectors were behind it, and worse, that they were working for the Reapers. I asked them if they were willing to help, but the turian councillor said that the colonies in the Terminus were beyond Council jurisdiction, and were well aware of that when they formed the colonies. He continued that they had dismissed my claims of the Reapers, having found no proof of them. Anderson told me that no-one else had talked to Vigil on Ilos, so there was no proof that the geth weren't following Saren and not Sovereign.

I told them that I'd given up just about everything for them, I deserved better than them dismissing the Reapers, especially since they'd believed me after the battle of the Citadel. The asari councillor, ever the mediator, asked me to see it from their point of view. They were in a difficult position regarding me, since they had proof I was working for Cerberus, an avowed enemy of the Council. This was treason, and if I was anyone else, I'd be shot on sight. Anderson broke in then, saying that he wouldn't allow this to continue. The asari held up her hand and said there was a compromise to be had here. The turian said that as long as I restricted myself to the Terminus Systems, the Council was willing to reinstate me officially as a Spectre.

I can't say that I was especially pleased with that. I said thank you, though I suspect everyone in the room, physically and holographically, knew what really just happened. The asari just said good luck to me, and hoped for a quick end to my ties to Cerberus. I also had the same hope. After the light faded from the holograms, Anderson turned to me and said that being reinstated was just a symbolic thing; they wouldn't actually do anything for me. No resources, no access to Spectre gear, no intelligence. I told him I knew that, but there was no need to burn bridges with the Council. He said that was fair enough, and he'd keep the Council and Alliance off my back, but I had to stay out of Council space.

It was right about then that my least favourite person walked in the door, Donnel Udina. To say he was unhappy to see me was a grand understatement. I told him I was there to visit a friend, but Anderson cut in and told me that I shouldn't cover for him. He told Udina he arranged for me to meet the Council. Udina just about burst an artery as he asked Anderson if he knew the meaning of political shit-storm. I told him to relax, the Council reinstated me and I would stick to the Terminus systems. Udina calmed considerably then, rubbing his chin in thought as he said that such an arrangement would work for both sides. Then he chided Anderson that he should have talked to him first. Anderson was the one who raised his voice then, telling Udina that he didn't need to talk to him before he did anything, and he should go to his office and think about that. Udina politely excused himself, though the tone of his voice definitely did not match the meaning of the words. Anderson told me after the door closed that Udina needed to be reminded of his place every now and again. He usually didn't bother Anderson, and he was much better at following political trends and attending formal parties that Anderson couldn't stand.

The older man walked over to the balcony and leaned on it, looking more weary than I had ever seen him. I walked over and leaned next to him, so many questions trying to be asked, but none coming to the fore. I finally asked him about the damage to the Citadel after Sovereign's attack, since I didn't have a lot of time for leave before I was sent out on assignment. He replied that the highly populated areas and major commerce centres were mostly complete, but the estimate for total restoration was about 5 years. The keepers apparently were doing wonders, fixing and repairing, making other species' repairs look like they had always been there. No-one knew where the resources were coming from, but the keepers just kept on repairing the Citadel, night and day. I thought about the keepers for a while, thinking about how they had probably once been a sentient species in their own right, until the Reapers repurposed them. Now they were essentially slaves, engineered at the genetic level to make sure that the Citadel kept functioning, and that no-one ever discovered its' real nature.

Thinking on the Reapers got me thinking about Sovereign. I asked Anderson what had happened to the wreckage, since it had been a massive construct and I didn't see any evidence of it. Anderson just said that the aftermath of the battle was chaos. Bits of Sovereign and geth dropships rained down everywhere, creating even more chaos as the wards populations counted their dead. By the time the Council and C-sec reasserted control, looters and private salvage teams had already gotten to nearly half of Sovereign's wreckage. The rest of it had been taken to a secure and secret location for study by the Council fleet. I asked about the geth that remained after Sovereign's destruction, and Anderson said that most of them managed to flee. Since then, they had become increasingly disorganised, and it was now more like cleanup than war. Knowing that the geth needed numbers to form advanced tactics, it made sense that small, isolated groups wouldn't be as effective as a large assault force.

I finally got up the nerve to ask him the real question I had been avoiding since I walked into the office- could tell me anything about Ash? He said matter-of-factly that she had been promoted, and was currently on assignment. That was all he would tell me, since the details were classified. Even if they weren't, he said, he wouldn't tell me since I was affiliated with Cerberus. I can't tell you how much that hurt, hearing it from him. My heart felt heavy in my chest, and I suddenly felt filthy, like I was stained so badly that I would never be clean again.

I fought down the feeling for now and asked him how he liked being the Councillor for humanity. He shrugged, saying it wasn't how he had expected to spend his twilight years. Some days he just felt like he was banging his head against a wall trying to get something done. His voice dropped a little as he said that knowing the truth about Sovereign, about how tenuous the state of the galaxy was, was like waking from a nightmare every minute. My mind flashed to the warning the beacon burned in my brain, the Cipher translating the images and thoughts into something I would recognise, and I had to admit, it was indeed like waking from a nightmare. It had been a while since the vision had gone through my mind, I suppose that destroying Sovereign must have had some effect on it. I brought my mind back to the conversation as Anderson said he couldn't blame the rest of the Council for not wanting to believe. Who would want to live with knowledge like that? He knew what was important though, and he'd keep fighting the good fight, for what it was worth.

I felt like we had probably said all that needed to be said after that. It was sad, having someone I respected and admired, who risked everything because he believed in me, being kept at arms length. There were so many things I wanted to tell him, and wanted to hear from him, but I knew we couldn't talk about it, not now. Cerberus may be trying to do the right thing, but they had done so many wrongs in the past that no-one trusted them. And now, no-one trusted me by association. I said goodbye, and turned around to head back to Zakera Ward. At the last moment, Anderson grabbed my shoulder, and said that while he couldn't help me much, he'd always be there to talk. I resisted the urge to break down right there, and he finished up by saying that I shouldn't trust Cerberus. I smiled a sad smile at him, and then walked away, leaving behind one of my best friends, knowing I probably wouldn't see him again.

It was a much lonelier ride down the elevator than going up, but maybe that was do to with realising just how much I'd lost, to have it put in perspective like that. As I reached the ground floor, I pulled up Garrus on a radio channel. I asked him how the loading was going, and he said it was about halfway done. Gardner had apparently smiled and brought out his cooking books, and said to relay a message to me of his profound thanks. I smiled a little and told him to tell Gardner he could repay me by making something decent tasting tonight. Garrus just laughed and closed the channel, and I walked over to the taxi stop. My line of sight was dominated by the Conduit nearby, no longer active like it had been last I saw it. I remembered one of the worst feelings of my life was travelling FTL in the Mako, a vehicle never designed for it. Being a biotic, I can feel the change in the local space-time that comes from using relays, usually just as a little light-headedness. Using the Conduit, experimental Prothean technology, it was all I could do not to pass out or vomit, or both. And I won't even go into how bad the landing was.

My train of thought went on a few tangents then, from relays to ships to funding. Cerberus was currently paying the bills, but I wasn't a fan of that arrangement, and I didn't trust it to continue. Then I remembered that I had dealings with Barla Von before my last mission. I imagine my eyes must have gleamed, because I seriously thought this could be an end to at least one source of my problems.

I walked the short distance from the base of the Tower to Barla Von's offices in the nearby financial district. The doors opened automatically, and I found the squat volus sitting in his chair, almost exactly as he had been two years ago. He greeted my cordially, and said that his employer would find news of our meeting very interesting indeed. Knowing the Shadow Broker's reputation, he'd probably sell the information to anyone who wanted to know. I asked him what the price would be to keep this meeting a secret, and he said that even I didn't have that kind of credit. Shrugging at the honest attempt, I sat down in the comfortable chair aimed for asari or human physiology. I asked him how my finances had been doing, and if he had been following my instructions. He said that of course he had, he was an honest businessman of course. He said that as per our arrangement, on notification of my being listed as MIA or KIA, 10% of my assets would be donated to the Kaidan Alenko Memorial Fund. The rest would stay under his purview with instructions to grow the money as much as possible. After a period of five years, if I had not contacted him, the remaining sum would also be donated to the KAMF and Alliance Veterans and Widows Fund. I asked him how much had been donated after the original news of my death, and he said proudly that my donation was over ten million credits.

To say I blanched would be accurate. I know that all the resources I had surveyed for the Alliance had been worth a fair bit, but nowhere near that amount. He told me that while the initial 'finder's fees' had been substantial, they were insignificant compared to the royalties, not to mention certain benefits from the Alliance and other sources that I'm sure only a volus would understand. Since then, he had made a series of high-return investments on my behalf, and then he tapped a few keys and displayed a number on a screen for me. I stared at it for a while in shock, remembering to close my mouth after about 30 seconds. I had never seen such a large number in my life. To say he had made a mountain out of a molehill would be an appropriate metaphor. However, with the initial molehill only slightly smaller than Everest to start with, the end result was staggering. I could probably afford, well, just about anything short of buying a planet, or maybe a dreadnought. But before starting fantasies of solid platinum plating on the _Normandy_, I told myself there were more important uses for that money. I told him that the proviso of donating the rest of the money still applied if I was reported dead again, but to continue to create wealth for me. I walked out of the office, thoughts racing through my head but one feeling certain: that I was probably going to need that money sooner than I wanted to.

I walked back to the cabstand and hailed one, telling the driver to take me back to the customs checkpoint on Zakera Ward. He nodded and closed the door, and I travelled once again in silence. After another short ride I got out, only to be met by one person I could have gone a trip to the Citadel without seeing: Khalisah bin Sinan al-Jalahni. She must have found out that I was on the Citadel, though I didn't know how, and run to get to the docks down here. I could see Garrus and Jacob loading the last of the crates into the Normandy in the background, but they were too far away to help me right now. I had a feeling I was about to get mugged, again.

She didn't even give me a chance to refuse an interview, she just turned on the camera droid floating over her shoulder and extended her hand. I crossed my arms, and she seemed to get that message and went straight into her questions. She asked if I remembered our last interview two years ago, and I told her I remembered her trying to smear me. She sounded almost like the Illusive Man as she said that she was on the same side I was, she just used different methods. She jumped straight into her next question, about how during the Battle of the Citadel, sources said I was the one who gave the order to save the Council, sacrificing hundreds of human lives to maintain alien dominance over humanity.

I'll admit I smiled inside a little bit at this point. For days now I'd been subconsciously looking for an outlet for my inner turmoil, and now here she was, presenting herself on a platter and practically handing me the knife to cut her with. I looked right into her eyes with a hard expression, and I imagine my implants must have flared up a little as well, because she suddenly looked very frightened of me. I told her that every soldier that signs up knows that sometimes they have to die in order for the mission to succeed. From the lowest rank to the highest, dying in battle was something we all volunteered to do, and we get repaid by people like her turning our names into mud. I told her that she was free to sling anything she wanted at me, but disrespecting the dead was something I would not take from anyone.

She started to stammer out something about not meaning to accuse, but I didn't let her finish that sentence. I told her that everyone who died in that battle, human or not, died a hero, and they all deserved better from her, and from everyone like her. I walked right past her then, not seeing but definitely hearing the sounds of her flustered stammerings, trying to comprehend what had just happened. It took a while for me to calm down after that, but once I reached the airlock with Garrus loading the last crate, I felt calmer than I had since my second life had started.

I helped Garrus lift the last crate into the airlock, which closed behind us as EDI began the decontamination process. Garrus asked me how my meeting with Anderson had gone, and I told him that it went fine, and that I was officially a Spectre again. He said it wouldn't change much now, but it never hurt to be official. When the inner door opened, I asked him if he needed help carrying it to the kitchen, and he said he was fine. I walked in and found that Joker was already in his chair, preparing to take us away from the Citadel. I walked up behind his chair and he looked up at me, his fingers going on autopilot. He asked me if there was a chance we were going to pick up any more sexy ninjas on this trip, because he would definitely approve of that. I smiled at him and told him that sadly, the closest he'd probably get to her was ninja porn on the extranet. He chuckled at my joke, and asked if I had a destination in mind yet. I told him I didn't have one yet, but that I'd have one by the time we made the relay.

I walked up to Kelly and asked her if anything interesting had happened while I was out. She said there had been some new messages, and a delivery from Cerberus agents here on the Citadel. I asked her where Kasumi had taken up residence, and Kelly replied that she had moved herself and a few crates of belongings into the port observation room. I thanked her, dropped off my weapons at the armoury and then went up to my cabin to remove my armour. After that was done and I had my clothes on again, I pulled up the new messages at the terminal on my desk. One was from a kid called Jon. I opened it and read the message, from the kid I stopped at the merc recruiting station on Omega. He said he was angry at first, but realised how lucky he was to have met me when he saw the news later, especially the body count. I hoped this would be good for him, hoped he would find something meaningful in his life now. There was another one from Daniel, Mordin's assistant, thanking me for saving him, and opening his eyes to a little bit of reality.

The next one threw me for a second. It was from Admiral Hackett, but from his personal account, not his admiralty one. He said that surveys had found the wreckage of the old _Normandy_ on Alchera, and that included in this message were schematics for a memorial stature that he would like me to place on the site. I would have to construct it myself, but I would be compensated for it later. He also asked, as a personal favour, to see if I could find any evidence or remains of 20 servicemen who were unaccounted for after the _Normandy's_ crash. I stared at the message for a while, wondering if it was Anderson or someone else who informed the Alliance that I was officially alive, or if Bailey's work had alerted them.

The last two were from the Illusive Man himself. The first one was about weapons. Apparently, he had gotten word of Jacob's act of generosity, and wasn't pleased that he had gone outside Cerberus to acquire it. He said that he'd have a private word with Jacob, but to show there was no hard feeling, he'd delivered twelve additional Phalanx pistols, replacement parts and maintenance manuals to the Normandy. He'd also been talking with EDI and Miranda about rifles, and EDI had suggested he had been overlooking proven tech for state-of-the-art. To that end, he'd delivered a full complement of the old Mattock heavy rifles, modified for thermal clips. I was familiar with the Mattock, it was more like a large SMG or sniper rifle than an assault rifle, but with a lot more power. I thought about maybe expanding my weapons training, since while charging into battle with shotguns is an effective technique for me, sometimes it pays to be able to fight from a distance. I made a mental note to add some holographic training sessions with the Mattock to my schedule if possible.

The second was a request from him. Apparently, two scientists and their cell had been working on investigating Prothean ruins around the galaxy, and testing a new prototype ground vehicle. Their ship had gone missing in the Ismar Frontier, in the Elysta system, and he wanted me to investigate. While it wasn't an order, it was important, as the missing doctors were the Cerberus experts in Prothean technology and archaeology. While I wasn't keen on rescuing Cerberus personnel when colonies were still going missing, it wasn't out of the way.

I opened a channel to Joker, who said we were about 30 minutes from the relay. I told him to set a course for the Ismar Frontier cluster. He acknowledged and closed the channel, and I decided to go and check up on our newest recruit. I went into the elevator and went down to deck three, finding the door to the port observation room open. I walked up to it slowly, trying to see if Kasumi was in. I didn't see her immediately, so I stepped in a little further. Maybe it was my enhanced senses, or maybe just paranoia, but I almost felt something behind me. I turned around and saw the same faint shimmer of static that I had seen when Kasumi disappeared before. But this time, it was moving towards me, and it looked like it was armed. I kept my stance loose, but ready to move, waiting to see what she was doing.

When she was pantomiming a stabbing motion, I quickly took a step to the side, turning and catching her wrist. My hand must have interfered with her cloaking mechanism, because she shimmered back into the visible spectrum with a look of mild surprise on her face. I looked back down at her hand, seeing a shiny tanto knife clasped tightly. I asked what she planned to do with that, and she said it was a little bit of fun. I raised an eyebrow and she continued that she had planned to sneak up behind me and startle me by showing me the knife so close without knowing it was coming. I let go of her wrist, and the knife was quickly placed back in its sheath, hidden almost entirely from view. She invited me in and sat me down on the couch that had been moved in, while I took stock of the room. It had a bookshelf with actual paper books, some paintings and sculptures, a simulstim terminal and a well stocked bar. I had to admit, she lived pretty well if this was what she could bring to the _Normandy_.

As fascinated as I was by the odd collection, I asked her about her cloaking device, and whether it worked in combat. She said it and her tanto had saved her more than once. The tanto was something from Earth, one of the first pieces she had ever stolen. The cloaking device was a different story altogether. It was experimental technology, and as I had seen, wasn't perfect. If the cloak was breached in any way, such as me grabbing her hand, the field shut down temporarily. It also couldn't run for more than a minute at a time before the power systems overheated and burned her or burnt out the circuits.

Gardner then called over the intercom that dinner was ready, and it was going to be good tonight. I could smell it already, and my mouth was watering. I stood up and Kasumi joined me, and we walked to the kitchen. After getting out meals and sitting down, I took a bite and smiled. It was well worth the trip to the citadel if Gardner could keep up this kind of quality cooking. Soon the rest of the crew joined in as well, all of them praising the new quality of the food. Gardner just said that most of the thanks should go to me, since I cared enough about the crew to do right by them, unlike some people in charge. I felt the sudden, but brief, drop in the atmosphere, and got the feeling he was talking about Miranda, who chose that moment to walk out of her office. After Zaeed came up and started telling us tales about his life, we all got into the spirit, talking as a group and getting to know each other. Except Miranda, who left early, probably because she didn't like dealing with people, a difference between us. After an hour of just talking, Kasumi brought a few bottles of booze out, and Gardner fetches some glasses. After everyone got a glass, I raised a toast to Ferris Fields, and everyone shared in a solemn sip. A minute of silence was observed, before we all felt the weight of reality return to our shoulders. I told everyone assembled that I was proud of them so far, and hoped they'd continue to be as dedicated as they had been. I drained my glass and then went up to my cabin.

I feel bad about Ferris Fields, bad because if I'd had some warning, I could have done something about it. I swear if I ever find myself in a position to actually confront the Collectors, I'll be all out of mercy.


	7. A Dish Served Cold

Chapter 6 – A Dish Served Cold

April 13, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

En route to Elysta system, Ismar Frontier

As soon as the relay spat us out in the Ismar Frontier cluster, Joker programmed in a FTL course to the Faia system. He radioed me in my cabin that the trip would take several hours, so I decided to use the time talking with Zaeed about our plan of attack, since he was the one with all the intel for this mission. I got dressed and went down to the engineering deck where he had set himself up.

I exited the elevator and found Zaeed inhabiting the starboard cargo hold. I walked in to find a very interesting setup. There was a small table with an old rifle and other equipment, also obviously old and with the appearance of things that hadn't been used for a while. His armour was standing on a rack nearby, ready to put on quickly. Everything here told a story about a man whose life was killing, and he had honed that skill to razor-sharp. There were some interesting pieces scattered around as well, such as a model of a turian cruiser and a krogan armour helmet, with red markings of the Blood Pack mercenary gang. I thought to myself that these were probably trophies of memorable kills or missions, and that I might ask about them later. Something else caught my attention though, and that was a small terminal on a 'desk', really just a pile of crates. Displayed on it though was a split screen image, each showing a different camera view somewhere on the Normandy.

I turned around and asked him how he got this, and he just said simply that Cerberus needed to put a little more work into their surveillance encryption. He came over and pressed a few keys, showing me some more images from different surveillance devices. Given the number of times he scrolled through, there were a lot more bugs on the _Normandy_ than I had originally thought. I made a mental note to give the Normandy a thorough clean as soon as possible. Turning around, I asked him if he wanted to give the briefing on the Zorya insertion. He reached over and grabbed an OSD in response, and asked me to lead the way to the briefing room.

I took him back up to the elevator, hailing the ground crew and telling them to meet me there. Zaeed and I got in the elevator, which stopped on the crew deck to let in Garrus, Kasumi and Miranda. The five of us got out and made our way to the briefing room, finding Jacob and Mordin waiting for us. The table was still showing its' holographic display of the Normandy, as Zaeed found a port near the door end of the table and inserted his OSD. The hologram then quickly changed from the Normandy to a large factory-looking building and some surrounding areas, as the briefing began. He pointed to a spot on the north side of the diagram and pointed out that this was the airpad, and the site most likely to have a few escape vehicles or gunships. He also pointed to a ridge about one kilometer south of the complex– in his opinion, this would be the best place for an insertion. Zaeed then looked around the table and said that a small team would be best, three or four heavily armed soldiers that could work quietly. It would be highly likely we would have to face a lot of heavily armed resistance, but we didn't want to draw it all at once with an obvious attacking force.

We all looked at each other around the table. Zaeed was obviously going to be a major part of the insertion team. Being a biotic, as well as heavily armed and armoured, I would be the second. Kasumi shook her head, letting me know that she was not up for this kind of action. Jacob and Miranda said nothing, just stared at the hologram. Mordin was actively manipulating the hologram now that Zaeed was finished, muttering under his breath about possible entries and exits and other such things. Garrus just looked at me, and we both knew that he was going to be the last one of the team.

Once the team was finalised, Garrus went to the armoury to check out the new Mattocks and Zaeed disappeared down back to his cargo hold. I pulled Joker on the intercom and he said that we were about an hour out, and then joined Garrus in the armoury where he and Jacob were discussing the specs on the new rifles. Garrus was impressed with them, and said he'd definitely be taking one out for the insertion on Zorya. He turned to me and said it was a shame I didn't have any training in rifles, because I'd enjoy using this one. He put the new Mattock on his rack next to his sniper rifle, before heading back to the crew deck, saying he needed to check his armour. I looked in the weapon locker to see that Zaeed still had his old weapons there. I wondered if he wanted to swap out his old ones with the new ones we had, though from the personal looks of those weapons, probably not.

I went back down to the cargo hold to find him looking intently in a mirror. I knocked and he turned around, wearing one of the most intense expressions I had ever seen on a face before. He asked me abruptly what I wanted. I told him I was down here to ask him if he wanted one of the new Mattock rifles for the mission. His face softened a little then, almost becoming wistful, and he glanced over at the old rifle on the bench. I took a closer look at it now, seeing it was covered with notches, just like the ones on his current weapons. He apparently saw what I was thinking, and he said that Jenny had caused most of the notches on his current gun. The rifle, Jenny obviously, looked old, maybe even twenty years. Zaeed said that Jenny was the best rifle he had ever owned, more bloodthirsty than he was. She was the most reliable weapon he had ever used, never jamming, always accurate. He sighed, and said that all ended one day when she finally jammed when he needed her most. He'd used Jenny to bludgeon her final targets to death, with the final result of breaking the rifle totally beyond repair.

He'd bought replacements over the years, but always kept Jenny, maybe out of sentiment. I asked him again if he wanted a Mattock for this mission, and brought up the specs on my omni-tool. He took a quick glance and said he'd take one, but he needed time to make some modifications. I was in no doubt on the specifics of his modifications as he pulled out a black-bladed knife from one of his personal crates. We both went back up in the elevator, Zaeed getting out on combat deck whilst I kept going to my quarters. I pulled my armour out of its' locker, only recoiling a little at the smell of burnt vorcha. It was getting pretty weak now, maybe it would be gone after the next wash. But I just put it on for now, since there was nothing I could do about it.

I'd finished putting on the rest of the armour when I looked at a piece that had been sitting there for a while. I had picked it up on Omega, a Kuwashii combat visor headset, but I hadn't used it yet. I got it from Kenn's at the same time I got the FBA arrays. I don't exactly remember why, maybe it had something to do with remembering Garrus before I reconnected with him. I picked it up and slid it over my head, my hardsuit computer automatically registering the new piece. After a few diagnostics and tests, my hardsuit obviously decided it liked the new piece, and the arm that extended out over my eyebrow brought down a holographic display. Linked to my hardsuit, it showed me the integrity of my armour, the relative strength of my personal biotic barrier should I choose to activate it, as well as a redundant shield generator, which I hadn't known I had. Some code scrolled through and I recognized it as an IFF protocol booting up. A little flashing warning came up saying 'Weapon Not Linked' which I assumed would fix itself once I added my weapons down in the armoury.

I went down to the armoury to find Jacob and Zaeed already there, Zaeed carving into the stock of a Mattock. I couldn't make it out yet, but I assumed it was something along the lines of a number, and given his record and reputation, probably a high one. I walked over to the locker and pulled out my weapons and slung them into the magnetic holsters on my hardsuit: shotgun on my lower back, pistol and SMG on my hips and the grenade launcher on my back. Each weapon registered itself on my suit's computer and came up on the display from my visor. Testing it out, I pulled out my pistol and aimed it experimentally at the wall. The visor displayed the vector of the bullet, and said there was no target to designate weaknesses on. I put the pistol away, wondering to see how it would work in combat.

After that, Garrus came up in his armour, still sporting two massive holes around the neck where the auto-cannon on Tarak's gunship had pierced it. He simply picked out one of the new Mattock rifles and his sniper rifle from Omega. The three of us then took the elevator down to the garage, boarded the shuttle and waited for Joker to take us into orbit around Zorya. It didn't take long, and soon Joker was remote-piloting the shuttle to the landing zone we had picked earlier. As we entered the atmosphere, I asked Zaeed if there was anything we should expect groundside. He replied matter-of-factly that the Blue Suns were one of the most highly organised mercenary outfits in the Terminus, so we should get ready for anything. I just nodded and activated my personal biotic barrier with a flick of my wrist.

The shuttle touched down on a clearing at the top of the ridge without a problem. It was easy to see why the planet had been chosen as a colony world, it was essentially a tropical paradise, at least at this latitude. Just to the north we could see a large tower sending out black smoke into the atmosphere. I just sighed a little inside at just how far we haven't come yet as a species. We make the same pollution mistakes on new planets, which was exactly what had just about killed our own before people got it in their heads about climate change. It wasn't hard to guess that was our destination.

Then someone tapped into the Blue Suns communications, but it wasn't whom I was expecting. Zaeed's was the voice I heard, not EDI over the radio. I marked that as a little strange, but I decided that now wasn't the time to press the matter, since Zaeed had added the frequency to Garrus' and my hardsuit's computers. A voice came over the comm. to Bravo squad, telling them that there were people south of the complex, and that they weren't runaways. It didn't take a genius to figure out he meant us, and if we needed more proof that the Blue Suns were running some sort of slavery thing in the complex, the runaways comment was it. Zaeed just scowled and said 'Vido' in a way reserved for those on a vendetta. I signalled with my hands to move out, using the assumption that if we can access their comms, they could probably track ours.

We pulled out our weapons, Garrus and Zaeed with their Mattocks, while I opted for my shotgun. We made our way along a little gully, before coming across some fresh bodies. Civilian. Zaeed took one look at them and said this was exactly Vido's style: shot in the back and left to rot. Garrus just said we should keep moving, as the dead couldn't be helped. I nodded and signalled to move out again. Almost to mock me, Vido came in over the comm. again, telling the Bravo squad to get ready for action, because we definitely weren't runaways. Apt advice, but sadly, not enough to save Bravo squad from us.

We ran into Bravo a little while later at the southern checkpoint. At first it was only 6 troops and a girl with a rocket launcher on the catwalks. Zaeed and Garrus made short work of the troops on the ground, taking them out with quickly clean shots to the head and torso, their bullets carving through armour and tissue alike. The girl with the rocket launcher let loose rockets fast enough for me not toto prevent me from getting a clear shot off from my shotgun or my handguns. So I did the next best thing I could, and threw a series of shockwaves at her. The third one hit just under her feet, sending her flying into the air. She did what any normal human would do when flung unnaturally into the air: she flailed her arms and screamed. A scream that was cut short when she landed headfirst on the ground. She didn't get back up after that impact, and it wasn't hard to imagine hearing the sound of her neck snapping as she hit the ground. My visor confirmed it, registering the change from living to dead and relaying it through my HUD.

We didn't have time to relish in our victory though, because my HUD also showed reinforcement in the form of five more troopers and FENRIS mechs coming from the north. Garrus and Zaeed took out the troopers with a fair amount of ease, given that they the troopers were looking at me and they were on their flank. My visor scanned the targets and identified the FENRIS mechs as the priority threat, given my armaments. It identified the most like spot for quick incapacitation as the central processing area in the 'head'. I waited until they were in close proximity and the rearranged the circuits inside their heads courtesy of my shotgun.

Once that threat had been taken care of, the three of us moved ahead towards the complex that was now dominating our horizon. We found a deep valley with a small waterfall, spanned by a mechanical bridge that had been retracted, probably by the reinforcement that we'd just taken out. One look at the control panel and I knew it was beyond my technical skill. I signalled Garrus over for him to take a look at it, just as Vido came in over the comm. again. He was shouting at his men, telling them if they retreated, he'd shoot them himself. Zaeed just said that that was exactly like Vido.

Vido was starting to sound a lot like someone I had killed in a previous life: one self-styled Lord Darius. Someone who had become dangerous, too dangerous to simply ignore anymore. So Admiral Hackett asked me to "negotiate" with him. I recognised pretty soon that negotiation wasn't the way this was going to end, so I killed him. I'm sure a similar thought was going through Garrus' mind. I told Zaeed that Vido sounded like someone who needed to get shot, and he said that was something we agreed on.

He then told me that Vido and he had founded the Blue Suns 20 years ago, and since Vido's little coup, they'd only gotten meaner, like as not to turn against clients if it meant more credits for them. I asked him why nobody had mentioned the fact that he founded the Blue Suns to me, and he angrily replied that it wasn't common knowledge. He led the men while Vido ran the books. One day, Vido started hiring batarians, to Zaeed's anger. Vido justified it by saying that they were cheaper, and Zaeed said had told the man they were terrorists right to his face. He said it wasn't long after that incident that Vido paid six of his men to hold him down while Vido shot him point blank in the head. I asked in wonder how he could have survived such an injury, and he just pointed to his face and said that a stubborn enough person can survive just about anything. I was an example, since I survived getting spaced when my ship was destroyed. Rage, apparently, was one hell of an anaesthetic.

I looked at him in a new light after this revelation. And suddenly a few things began to make a lot more sense. The tattoo on Zaeed's neck was the Blue Suns logo turned on the side. The way that Tarak spoke to Zaeed back on Omega was far to friendly for just an acquaintance. Zaeed had said once out of the blue that for the last 20 years, he's seen Vido every time he heard or fired a shot, every time he sighted a target. For him, this wasn't about saving the facility or it's personellpersonnel, this was about revenge. And the look in his eye said that this was a part of his soul now, and if I got in his way, not even I would escape being shot.

Garrus picked a good time to finish working, breaking through the control firewalls and extending the bridge. We walked across it and Vido came across our comm. again, telling his men that we were heading towards the southern gatehouse, and telling Charlie and Delta squads to meet him there. Zaeed just tightened an already vice-like grip on his Mattock, muttering at Vido to bring it on.

We got to the south entrance to find Vido with a welcoming committee of mercenaries, all their guns on us. Vido just leaned on the rail with an attitude that said I'm in charge here, and I know it. He welcomed us like he'd been expecting us, and based on the comms we'd intercepted, he probably had. He saw Zaeed grip his Mattock tightly, stock against his shoulder and eyes down the sight. He told him not to be stupid, he had the advantage of numbers. He then reconsidered, telling Zaeed to give his men a reason to shoot him, again.

Zaeed just shouted in rage, pulling on the trigger and not letting go until his thermal clip was spent. His fire sent all the mercs diving for cover, since you never know when something like that could get a lucky ricochet and end your career permanently. One of his shots evidently his a gas line, as I could hear the hiss. Vido just laughed at Zaeed's apparent lack of aim, when Zaeed fired another salvo, igniting the gas cloud that had formed, creating an explosion that took out a few of the mercs, and apparently injured Vido, who shouted something about shooting Zaeed before limping away. Zaeed for his part ignored the mercs who were now shooting at him, and as well as ignoring Garrus and I, just using the butt of his rifle to smash at the gas main. After a few powerful blows, he eventually caused a chain reaction of explosions whichexplosions that took out the mercs on the catwalk above and exploded open the door, which sailed just overhead.

Not that I minded the distraction and the merc carnage to the Mercs, but a little warning would have been nice. I said as much to Zaeed and he just saidreplied that they'd lost the advantage now, and there was no way Vido could escape. I replyrejoined that we'd talk about this later, and he nonchalantly replied that once Vido was dead, he'd love to have a discussion on any topic I wanted. I was about to say something in reply response to this snide comment, but more explosions cut me off. I just motioned through the now-open door, Garrus and Zaeed taking up flanking positions behind me.

The welcoming committee on the other side of the door was comprised of three turians in blue armour, running towards me with shotguns. I charged biotically at the first one, sending him flying off the edge of the platform to almost certain death below. The second one received a talking-to from the business end of my shotgun, while the third one was taken care of by my squadmates. We walked on, the explosions continuing to race through the pipes around and underneath the platform we were walking on. I thought then that Zaeed's actions may have been too excessive, and in hindsight they were, but I didn't have a choice then.

We reached a door when a refinery worker ran out onto the platform, screaming hysterically about how the refinery was about to explode, and we needed to help them. I believe I rolled my eyes, wondering what about me made me look like someone who could stop a building that was obvious exploding, from exploding. Zaeed said we didn't have time for saving theretheir people. Vido was escaping, and if he got away, he was going to blame me. The expression in his eyes said such blame would be delivered with a bullet.

I gave it a brief thought, my mind quickly wandering from Darius to Balak and a lot of other criminals I've known. There was probably not a lot we could do for the workers here, most of them would likely die even if we found a way to stop the explosions. Vido also struck me as a man who would likely do this again, and since this was the Terminus, no-one would probably be likely to care. Putting and end to Vido was probably the lesser of two evils in this case. I told Zaeed that Vido was the bigger threat here, and needed to be dealt with. Zaeed smiled a mirthless smile and said he was glad I came around to his wisdom. We turned around, and I swear nothing sounded more haunting than the man's screams as we walked away. They'll probably haunt my nightmares, just like the screams of my parents and friends on Mindoir and the screams of my 50-man team as Thresher maws killed them on Akuze.

For the next ten minutes the three of us fought our way through the energy plant, following a map EDI managed to make for us of the quickest route to the airpad with the gunships. We got to an open air courtyard with a convenient bridge, with a not-so-convenient pyro running across it. We didn't get to have deal with him though, because the pipelines under the bridge chose that moment to explode under him, taking out both him and the bridge. Unfortunately for us, this made forced us to take the long way around, a way that involved a lot of mercenaries we had to kill. Many of them with flamethrowers, which were extremely dangerous in those close quarters. I remember at one point, when we came out where the bridge would have taken us before, we came across a lot of merc, some with rocket launchers. As we fought them all, I heard Zaeed shouting at Vido as if he could hear, telling him to stop hiding.

After that, I remember we entered a building whose walls seemed to be made entirely of pipes, some of which had exploded. On the ground was the body of a merc who had obviously been caught in the explosion, and had been holding a small flamethrower. I picked it up and examined it. It was small enough that it was portable without a tank of fuel, but that also meant it wouldn't have a great capacity. I didn't have room for it, so I handed it to Garrus, who slung it on his back without a word. He probably thought it was a bit like the old days where I'd search dead enemies for better weapons.

After the pipe building we came to what was obviously a shipping area for volatiles. Two large tanks hung suspended on their cranes above us, and several tanks were littered around the room. Thankfully we wouldn't have to watch our aim, and my visor displayed the armour thickness on the tanks as nigh-impenetrable. Zaeed had a better eye than Garrus or myself, as he got a quick look at Vido escaping at the other end of the room. The three of us were about to advance when a dozen mercs burst in from all over the room. We hunkered down behind the nearest available cover, coordinating attacks where possible but more often just taking targets of opportunity. Apparently, some of our stray shots did matter, as they hit the tanks on the crane just hard enough to cause them to act like flamethrowers, and it wasn't long after that some enterprising merc thought he'd use it to good advantage and activated the cranes.

Zaeed was the one who accidentally discovered that the tanks weren't exactly secure in their cranes, a stray shot causing it to visibly loosen in its' bracket. The three of us prioritised the tanks then, shooting them until they fell out of their crane brackets. One of them fell harmlessly into some sort of chasm, while the other one fell and exploded near some mercs, who flew everywhere and died on impact with whatever suitably hard surface they came in contact with. When we were down to the last merc he brought up his omni-tool and managed to type in some commands before Garrus took him out.

We were quickly enlightened as to the hero's last works, as an YMIR mech stomped it's way into a firing position, auto-cannon ablaze. The suppressive fire on from the cannon forced us all into cover, unable to take any real firing position without being exposed to lethal amounts of ammunition. The only break in the auto-cannon fire was so that it could lock-on and fire with one of it's equally deadly rockets. Fortunately, it's programming was limited to firing one weapon at a time at one target at a time, which gave us a slight advantage. One of us would distract it and take cover while the other two fired at it.

The fFirst obstacle was the shields, so Garrus tried some overload attacks while I let loose with my SMG. One thing I'll say about the YMIR class, they were built with battle in mind. It took several overloads and almost half my thermal clips for my SMG to finally deplete the shields before we faced the next obstacle, the armour plating. My visor scanned the target and highlighted several areas where the armour was weaker to allow freedom of movement, as well as areas with greater chance of dealing critical damage. I swapped my SMG for the Phalanx, turning on the laser sight for so I could get a better aim. I aimed straight for the head, as did Garrus and Zaeed, our combined firepower quickly overwhelming the light armour and damaging the critical circuits. In fact my last shot completely shattered the head, which of course activated a self-destruct protocol, the chassis falling to it's knees and beeping disconcertingly. We took cover just in time for the massive blast wave to completely bypass us, but we still felt the heat and saw the brightness of the explosion.

Once the YMIR was down, my visor showed there were no more targets in the vicinity. We ran towards the end of the building, to the door Zaeed saw had seen Vido leaving by. A few more corridors later and we were outside again, right near the airpad. We saw a Mantis gunship there, and Vido limping his way towards it. Zaaed pulled out a pistol and shot over Vido's shoulder, hitting a fuel tank and getting his attention. Vido turned around as Zaeed advanced, the latter saying nothing. I guess after visualising this moment for 20 years, words kind of seemed superfluous. As Zaeed advanced, a pitiless, empty expression on his face, Vvido tried one last ditch effort to save his life with pleading. He tried saying it their history was nothing personal, just good business, and Zaeed shot him in the leg. As he fell to the ground, clutching his profusely bleeding leg, he tried telling Zaeed that he'd done him a favour, made him into the man he was now. Zaaed was standing over Vido now, looking at the pathetic waste of a man before him, watching as the fuel tank he'd hit before formed a pool of volatile liquid around Vido.

Vido stared right into Zaeed's eyes, hoping to find some small shred of mercy there as he begged not to die. Zaaed just looked right into his eyes and said 'fry, you son of a bitch.' He then ejected a glowing hot thermal clip from his pistol into the pool of fuel, the volatile liquid igniting and soon engulfing Vido. Zaeed stared at the flames and listened to the screams for a few second, and then turned around and walked back to us, not even flinching as the tank behind him exploded. I didn't need my visor to tell me that Vido was dead now, the lack of screams and the oppressive heat told me that much.

We walked to a nearby clearing where Joker remote-piloted down a shuttle to pick us up. As the shuttle was landing I placed an anonymous call to the emergency services in the nearby colony city. I didn't want to try explaining what had just happened. The shuttle ride back to the Normandy was done in silence, a silence I perfectly understood. 20 Twenty years wais a long time to have hold something a vendetta like Zaaed's been carrying, and suddenly having it gone is would be a lot to deal with. I decided to let Zaeed have some time to think as he got off at the engineering deck, handing me his weapons to return to the armoury. I took them with a nod, one look into his eyes confirming that he needed time to process.

I went up to the armoury with Garrus, who was still carrying the flamethrower on his back. As the door opened, Jacob looked up from a terminal he was using. Garrus and I put our weapons away, and I took the flamethrower over to Jacob. He looked at it with a little awe, and told me he had only heard of this model. I asked him if it was still functional, seeing as it had been in an explosion. He just nodded and said this particular model was very tough, and should still be fully operational. He'd still test it to make sure, but it should be fully ready for the next mission I went on.

I thanked him and went up to my cabin, Garrus waiting for the elevator to take him down to the crew deck. Once I was in my cabin I took off my armour and placed it in the locker, before taking a shower. Once the shower was done I went to my private terminal to see if there were any new messages. There were two, one from an unexpected source and one from someone I remembered. The unexpected one was from someone on Omega, the wife of one of Garrus' team. It was sad and sweet at the same time, and I decided to forward it to Garrus. Maybe it would alleviate some of his guilt. The other one was predictably from Emily Wong, who said it was great to see me show up Westerlund News' least unbiased reporter again, and jokingly chiding me for not giving my favourite reporter a proper interview. I laughed a little at this one, and swore that if I waswere ever allowed back on the Citadel, I'd gladly give her an interview.

Joker called up to ask for a destination, and I have had to admit he has an almost innate ability to pick good times to use the intercom. I remembered the time just after the Normandy was impounded by Udina, when Liara and I were about to have an intimate moment, that I heard his voice blaring through the ship. I told him that since we're we were in the cluster, I wanted to check out the Elysta system. He said he'd set a course, but since it was on the other side of the cluster, it would probably take about eight to ten hours at FTL. I told him that was fine, and decided to go have dinner with the crew.

I went down to the crew deck absolutely starving, which is a common thing for me. Being a biotic really helps in combat, but it definitely required a lot more energy. In the Alliance, normal biotic rations have 50% more in terms of kilojoule count. Since I'm not in the Alliance right now, it means that I just need to eat more at meal times, and snack during the day. I bet I wouldn't be surprised at the number of famous human models who have biotic tendencies or capabilities, since they can eat more and stay thin. Though it must be torture for biotic pregnancies- the food cravings must be insane. In any case, Gardner's cooking was fantastic tonight, a calamari gumbo based on an asari recipe for the levos, and a turian marash for Garrus. It smelled pretty good, and Garrus certainly seemed to enjoy it. Between Garrus and Gardner explaining, they managed to get across that it was something like Earth Moroccan, spicy meat and vegetables cooked in semi-desert areas.

I didn't see Zaeed for the entire meal, and I asked Gardner if he'd been up before me. Gardner said that he hadn't seen him eat, but he had come by and taken some ingredients down with him. I thanked him, handed him my plate and went to take the elevator downstairs. I was surprised when the door opened and a wonderful aroma came out. I could definitely work out what Zaeed had been doing with those ingredients. I walked into his cargo hold to see him eating something, I couldn't quite make it out. I could see a little heat element and some cookware on one of the crates that had obviously just been used. Apparently old habits die hard. He looked up as I entered, chewing and swallowing a mouthful of food. He asked me if I wanted any, and I had to admit, I was hungry after smelling it. He pulled out another plate and fork, and spooned some of the extra onto the plate and handed it to me. I took a bite and my eyes went wide. It may not have looked much, but this stuff was great, it would give any chef a run for his money.

I asked him why he'd chosen to cook down here instead of eating what Gardner was making, and he gave me the answer I pretty much expected. He was used to working alone, and the times he had a ship it was only big enough for one. Everyone had to eat, so he had learned to cook himself, and had a few cooking guides on his omni-tool. Just because he was cooking for one doesn't mean it should taste like crap. He also said that food is an easy way to poison someone, and it wouldn't be a stretch to think he'd been on both ends of that kind of thing. We had a few more enjoyable mouthfuls in silence after that, and then he looked at me, putting his plate aside for the moment. I'm inserting a recording of what Zaeed said, because it really moved me.

"I wanna thank you Shepard. I've been going from one side of the galaxy to the other for 20 goddam years, hopin' to get Vido in my sights. Not sure what I'm gonna do after your little mission. You're the first person who's ever really helped me without being paid, and I appreciate that you went out of your way for this. For all I care, the galaxy can go screw itself, but as long as you need me, I'll have your back Shepard. Here's to us."

At that point he brought out a bottle of scotch, real Earth stuff, and poured a generous measure into two glasses, which we both drained quickly. I came back up to my cabin and decided to get some rest now, seeing as tomorrow was probably going to be a big day.


	8. Walking Through Fire

Chapter 7 – Walking Through Fire

April 16, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

En route to Imir System, Eagle Nebula

There's a reason it's been 3 days since my last journal entry. We've been from one spiral arm of the galaxy to the another investigating a lead on lost Cerberus scientists, only to come up essentially empty handed. But I'll start at the beginning.

We started out in the Elysta system of the Ismar Frontier on the 14th. We'd just come out of 8 hours of FTL travel, and Joker was now piloting us towards the planet Zeona, last known location of the MSV _Rosalie_. The planet had a fairly strong magnetic field, so Joker could discharge the drive core while we were groundside. Initial scans of the planet found some evidence of a crash, but not enough to indicate the whole ship. Miranda came up and joined me in the CIC, which now sported a hologram of the crash site. She looked at it and compared it with the technical specs of the _Rosalie_, a ship about twice the size of the _Normandy_. She said that judging by the size of the debris field and crash site, it was probably the cargo shuttle rather than the _Rosalie_ itself, and by the thermal reading and other scans, it had crashed about a week ago. There was no way to track a ship after a week, but EDI said there were faint signs of electronic storage scattered around in the debris, which may have new leads on the _Rosalie_. EDI also noted that there appeared to be an intact cargo container that the scans couldn't penetrate, which merited investigation.

That was enough for me, so I broadened the scan to look for potential hostiles and atmospheric conditions. Given that the area was largely volcanic in nature, it seemed highly unlikely that we'd find hostiles, but I liked to err on the side of caution. The atmosphere of the planet was breathable, but where we were going there were lethal amounts of carbon and sulphur gases, so we'd have to go in suits sealed. When the scans produced no signs of intelligent life for nearly 1000km around the site, I decided to take Miranda and Garrus. Miranda, because if there was any Cerberus tech there, she'd know how to activate it, and Garrus because he was the best battlefield technician I had currently.

We got in the shuttle just as Joker brought the _Normandy_ into orbit around Zeona and began to discharge the drive core. Joker decided that the VI autopilot on the shuttle could do a decent job this time, and he said he was going to go and get some sleep as he signed off radio contact. The shuttle took us down into the crash site, landing about 50 metres away from the intact cargo container. I don't know how it managed to survive out there when the rest of the cargo shuttle had disintegrated, but it was just there, sitting next to a cliff. I eventually found the panel that was used to lower one of the walls into a ramp, but it had taken some damage during the crash. I removed the cover panel and took a look at the circuitry, and it turned out to be nothing I couldn't fix myself. I booted up my omni-tool and selected the circuitry tool and program, scanning the damaged circuit board and bypassing the damaged sections.

The panel finally gave a happy series of beeps and the wall began to move. Garrus and Miranda stepped back as the metal wall gained momentum, the hydraulic suspension giving out and the ramp slamming into the stony ground. Inside, there was a shiny vehicle on the floor. Miranda looked at it appreciatively, and said this must be the experimental vehicle the _Rosalie_ cell was working on. Garrus took one look at it, and then me, and quickly turned around and tried to get back on the shuttle. But unfortunately for him, the shuttle VI decided that it would go and return to the _Normandy_ since we had found an alternative form of transport. Garrus let out a curse that my translator couldn't quite identify, and Miranda asked him why he was acting like this.

Garrus just looked at me again, and then turned to Miranda and gave her the turian equivalent of a deadpan expression. He asked her if Cerberus had managed to find any of the reports from the original _Normandy's_ service about my driving ability in the Mako. Miranda had a thoughtful expression for a second, and then understanding seemed to dawn on her. She looked at the vehicle again, and then at me. She said something about how this vehicle didn't seem to have any wheels, and maybe that would make it better.

Honestly, I didn't know what either of them were complaining about. I enjoyed driving in the Mako, it was fun. Especially the times when we drove off an unexpected cliff, tumbling down a mountain. It got my adrenaline pumping when we managed to flip the entire Mako through 360, and sometimes more. And that's not even mentioning the thrusters and using them to enhance all of those moments. From the look on Garrus' face right now, you'd almost swear he didn't enjoy bouncing around in his seat until you weren't sure which way was up anymore. Spoilsport.

Anyway, since travelling on foot wasn't an option, and the shuttle seemed to be sulking, we walked into the cargo container to see what we could do with this new vehicle. Like Miranda had said, there was no wheels, just a set of nasty looking turbines, one large one in the rear near the ailerons, and two at the end of each 'wing'. There was a hatch on top, leading down into a crew area designed for three people. It looked like it was atmospherically sealed, so we could probably take out helmets off once inside. I certainly like it better when I have the helmet off, I can get a better view of the battlefield, and my breath doesn't clog the visor. We went inside and took up the three stations available. I took the seat on the right side of the forward structure, which had a set of steering controls, so obviously the pilot seat. Miranda took the left side, the glass splitting down the middle, separating us, while Garrus took the obvious gunners seat, which was set higher than our and closer to the gun we had seen outside.

I pressed a likely looking button and the vehicle came to life, consoles blinking into holographic life. We could plainly hear the revving of the turbine engines as they began their automated start-up sequence. The steering console and controls also began booting up, code scrolling through the holographic screen as it did. The onboard VI announced that we were in the prototype M-44 Hammerhead Hovercraft Planet Exploration and Reconnaisance Vehicle. Miranda's side had more holographic displays than mine, showing up scanners, contour details in a 5 kilometre radius, vector displays and mapping capabilities. We all saw the barrel of the gun extend above us until it was almost level with me. Garrus said that instead of the armaments found on the Mako, the Hammerhead was equipped with light seeker rockets, with a range of different seeking capabilities. Thirty seconds after the engines started, the Hammerhead was airborne.

I gave the controls an experimental twist to the left, and we spun on a dime about 15 degrees. I did it again until the ship had turned 180 from its original position, then pressed forward and was rewarded with the Hammerhead moving forward. There were two pedals on the floor, so I experimentally tried the one on the left. The hovercraft put a little more power into the turbines, lifting about a metre off the ground. I'm pretty sure I had a little smile there, and proceeded to test the limits of this new toy by planting my foot on what I was now going to call the jump pedal. With an incredible feeling of internal organs moving towards the seat, we rocketed about 50 metres into the air. I kept my foot down to see if we'd go higher, but apparently the engines weren't designed for that because we steadily began to descend. After reaching the normal cushion distance from the ground, I moved the controls again to go forward. We quickly got up to the max speed, about 40 km/h, a similar speed to the Mako.

We were in a pretty much flat section, so I decided to test out the other pedal. Immediately, there was an adrenaline inducing burst of speed, the speedometer pushing quickly to the max of 120km/h. I had to admit, I loved this new toy, it opened up much more fun possibilities that the old Mako. I just heard Garrus groan in the back, and mutter something about sick-bags. Miranda seemed to be holding on to the supports with white knuckles, and I chuckled a little at this. I had a whole crew who hadn't yet had the singularly pleasurable experience of riding shotgun while I'm driving.

I took my foot off the speed pedal and asked her if the Hammerhead's scanner could shed some more light on the electronic data storage signatures EDI found in the orbital scan. She managed to put back on the façade of a woman in complete control and activated the scanners. A holographic contour map of the area came up, with ten flashing icons spread around and one small red hologram of the Hammerhead in the middle. I asked her to plot a course to all of them. She pressed a series of points on the hologram and the various consoles around her, and soon a vector arrow was pointing in my display.

The first two were near the cargo container, and we found that the Hammerhead had a small magnetic plate and cargo area, which easily picked up the modules and put them into storage. One of them was playing part of a recording on repeat. It said that the geth were tracking them, and they were moving on the next site, but it didn't say where the site was. Miranda said that hopefully EDI could transfer the data and work out where the _Rosalie_ had gone.

The next eight modules were all in another area, but there didn't seem to be any obvious way to get to them. I found one way blocked by wreckage of the cargo shuttle, and asked Garrus if he'd help me make a path. He obliged with a smile, sending a rocket into the metal sheets and blasting us a way through. We weaved our way through the next area, full of tall, thin mesa-like stone outcrops, collecting all the data modules that had scattered around. Some of them were definitely in bad shape, but some were surprisingly intact.

The whole collection took about an hour, and we called up EDI on the _Normandy_. She said that ship was in a good position to come down and pick us up, so we waited for five minutes at the top of the highest point we could reach. Soon enough, the black and white profile of the Normandy appeared, and a planted my foot on the jump pedal and manoeuvred the Hammerhead into the garage. EDI then took the ship and brought us back into orbit while the Garrus, Miranda and I, helped by Ken and Gabby, unloaded the data modules and took them up to the AI core so EDI could mine whatever data was intact for information.

Miranda and Garrus went back to their duties, while I headed up to the armoury to talk to Jacob. He was there, hovering over a sniper rifle with his omni-tool active on his arm. He stood up when I entered, and asked what he could do for me. As we had some time to kill between Joker sleeping, the Drive core discharging and EDI getting us some information on our next destination, I asked him if there was an area on the ship where I could to some target practice with the Mattock rifle. He scratched his head at that one, taking a few minutes to think about it. He said the Normandy wasn't really built with things like that in mind. He said that he could probably get a realistic program to use on Kasumi's simulstim, but the caveat to that was that simulations don't give you everything about firing a weapon.

Remembering that the garage of the Normandy was fairly large and empty, I asked him if there was a way to set up something down there without risking damage to the ship. He thought about that some more and nodded his head in agreement. He said he'd need to make some mods to the ammo block so it wouldn't have much penetrating power, but he could have a weapon and a target down there in about 30 minutes. I thanked him, put my weapons back in the locker and went up to my cabin to get my visor, before heading down to the mess to get some food.

Thirty minutes later found myself, Jacob and Garrus down in the garage, the three of us at one end and a target at the other end. There was one Mattock resting on a nearby crate, Garrus and Jacob showing me all the various parts, how it folded and unfolded, how to disassemble and reassemble and maintain it. After about 30 minutes of this I could do it all without their help, so they stood back and let me practice hooking it to the magnetic slot on my back and then unhooking it. When I was Alliance, it was standard issue for soldiers to carry all types of weapons into combat, even if they weren't trained in their use. Reasoning was better to have and not need, then need and not have. For me, it was just a little annoying having to lug around an assault rifle and a sniper rifle when I never used them, not once in my entire career outside of boot camp. Thankfully, being outside the Alliance means I don't have to do that anymore, so I had to practice how to get the Mattock on and off my back, make it natural, because on the battlefield that could make all the difference.

After about 10 minutes I told both of them I was ready for the next part of the lesson. Garrus stepped up to the plate then, Jacob like me preferring shotgun at close quarters. Garrus didn't have any problems adjusting my posture or the position of my arms, seeing as he was about two metres tall compared to my 175cm. He only did a few adjustments to my feet and back, and said that using a rifle is an art, not a science. He held out his hand for the rifle and asked if he could show me what he meant. I handed it to him and he adopted the pose he had just adjusted me into, and then brought the rifle up to his shoulder. He said that you had to hold it a little higher than you first think, so you can properly sight down the barrel. Using a visor and targeting software helped, but being able to eyeball it was a good skill to learn. He also said that another mistake a lot of new rifle users make is how hard they hold the weapon to their shoulder. It should be firm, but not uncomfortable. If it wasn't hard enough, there was potential for injury and inaccuracy when the weapon recoils. Not that modern weapons recoil much these days, but it was still a factor. If the grip was too hard into the shoulder, then eventually it would get painful, and it reduced flexibility and reactivity when holding it.

He handed me back the weapon and told me to shoulder it and sight down the barrel without my visor for now. I took and raised it, having to crane my neck down uncomfortably to us the sights. Garrus said this was exactly what I should avoid, and placed his hands under the barrel and lifted the gun and my arms up about five centimetres. I had to admit that it was a much better angle for my neck, and it even felt pretty good, natural almost. Garrus took a step back and said that was pretty good, and the only way to find out if my grip was firm enough into my shoulder was for me to have a test fire. He took a step behind me and I sighted down the barrel at the target Jacob had set up. It was little more than a piece of cardboard with a bullseye on it taped to a crate, but it was better than nothing. Jacob told me that the ammunition block he'd inserted was designed to shatter on impact, so it was perfect for this target practice. The modified display on the rifle said the heat sink had a capacity for 16 shots before overheating. I decided I'd only try 5, and said as much to the two behind me.

The first shot was alright, but it hit my shoulder a lot harder than I wanted it to, so I pulled it a little firmer before firing the second shot. The next shot felt a lot better, so I finished off the remaining three rounds. I put down the rifle and walked up to the target with Jacob and Garrus in tow, the three of us admiring my first handiwork with the rifle. I have to say, it was less than stellar, but Garrus said that from a distance of 25 meters it wasn't too bad for a beginner. I had managed to get them all to hit the target at least, five holes in the cardboard attesting to it. Only one of my shots had hit the centre ring, and my grouping was way off, shots scattered all around the target. It wasn't bad for someone's first time, but it meant that I still had a long way to go.

Jacob said that he should go back and finish maintaining the weapons upstairs, while Garrus stayed with me for the next hour while I kept firing into the target, swapping the cardboard when necessary. After that hour I was tired of holding the rifle up, so I decided to call it in for the day's target practice. As we gathered up the used targets, Garrus said that he was mildly impressed by how fast I had picked it up. After just one hour, I already managed to reduce my wildly inaccurate grouping to only merely inaccurate, meaning that instead of grouping about 50 cm, it was down to about 40 cm, at a target 25 metres away. It wouldn't get me anywhere in any sort of military or private security, whose minimum grouping requirement was 25 cm at 100 m. So when I could get it down to about 5cm at 25 m without assistance, I'd be doing fine.

As we were taking ourselves back to the armoury to secure the Mattock, EDI came over the intercom to the elevator, saying she'd gone through what data was recoverable from the modules I'd collected on Zeona and had narrowed our search to three possible planets. Unfortunately, none of those planets were nearby; all of them were in clusters on the spiral arm opposite to the one we were currently in. I muttered something about that being typical, and asked her about the progress of the drive core. She replied that we still needed to discharge for about 30 minutes before there was sufficient charge for us to FTL to the Aquila system and the Mass Relay in this cluster. I acknowledged and her hologram disappeared, leaving the two of us alone in the elevator as it opened on Deck 2.

After placing the weapon back in the locker, I went up to my cabin to take off my armour. I put it in the locker and heard the slight whirring as the auto-cleaning function started up. I can't say how thankful I am that Cerberus had included this, my mind flashing back to vivid memories of Gunny Elison on Titan. The man taught every marine recruit everything about their weapons and armour, drilling into us the importance of knowing them because on the battlefield, they were all that stood between us and death. To that end, he had every single recruit manually scrub their armour and weapons every day, a process which would usually take an hour, and if it wasn't up to his exacting standards, he'd make the entire platoon do it all again. A lot of recruits hated Elison in their first week, but by the time of their first combat, they came to realise the wisdom of his words. I still did check my armour every time to make sure everything was functional, but I'm glad that I don't have to clean it myself. I'd probably still clean it manually once a week, because there are some habits that never break, but I was glad I didn't have to do it every day now.

Anyway, the next chunk of time between waiting for the drive core to discharge fully and then travelling at FTL for four hours to the Aquila system's Mass Relay was spent reading reports on the _Normandy's_ first week. Maintenance and performance reports from Ken, Gabby, EDI and Joker, medical reports from Dr Chakwas and Mordin, progress on analysing the Collector data we recovered from Freedom's Progress from Mordin, gunnery report from Garrus, weapon report from Jacob, crew report from Miranda, a light pysch report from Kelly. NCOs, enlisted personnel and civilians always talk about the burden of command like it's a psychological thing, about needing to put up with huge amounts of battlefield stress. To tell you the truth, I wish that was all there was to it. In reality, the combat side of it is only about 10% of what the burden of command really is. What the other 90% consists of is paperwork. Reading reports, writing reports, no one ever gives that angle a whole lot of media, but then if they did, no one would want to be an officer.

After reading all the reports and being glad I wasn't part of the Alliance anymore, so I didn't have to write reports to superior officers, I wrote up my official reports on the activities on the last week anyway, because it was always good to have a record in my own words. By the time we reached the Aquila system I was back down in the CIC, looking at the galaxy map. There were thousands of dots scattered around the galaxy, each one representing a cluster and a mass relay, with bigger dots representing the Primary Relays and smaller dots representing the smaller Secondary Relays. I had tweaked some of the display setting to show different areas of the galaxy in different colours to represent the dominant government of the region. Red for the Alliance, blue for the Asari Republics, green for the Salarian Union, yellow for the Turian Hierarchy, and different colours for the volus, elcor, hanar. I set everything else as a grey colour, which represented independents like krogan worlds, rogues like the Batarian Hegemony, uncharted planets and the Terminus Systems, which took up just under half the galaxy.

We were currently in the Ismar Frontier cluster, near the edge of the Cygnus arm of the galaxy. EDI's data analysis highlighted three possible targets, each of them in a different cluster. All of these three clusters were close to each other, but were on the opposite side of the galaxy, about halfway along the Sagittarius arm. That meant that we would need to take numerous relay jumps to get to our target. Thankfully, the relay in the Ismar Frontier links to a relay hub that includes the Cygnus Alpha Primary Relay, which is connected to Sagittarius Delta, its partner Primary Relay. From there though, we'd need to take at least two jumps to get to the nearest target cluster. I looked at the map, and selected the Phoenix Massing as our next destination, plotting it into the galaxy map. EDI said that the ETA to the Phoenix Massing cluster was one hour, since relay travel was essentially instantaneous.

I went down to the mess to get more food as we went through the relays, each time feeling that peculiar light-headedness that biotics feel when using external mass effect fields. I spent most of the next hour eating, and after that just listening and talking to the crew. Just because they all work for Cerberus doesn't mean I shouldn't get to know them as people. By the time we reached the Phoenix Massing cluster Joker was up and about again, getting some food down in the mess before limping his way back up to the flight deck just as we exited the relay into the Tassrah system. Thankfully, our target in the Chomos system was only two hours away at FTL. I told Joker to take us there, and he said he'd have us there in no time.

I stayed where I was in the mess, reminiscing about old times in the Alliance with Chakwas and Garrus. When we finally arrived in the Chomos system, I was surprised at the amount of time that had already passed. I headed back up to my cabin and donned my armour, getting on the intercom to the ground crew. I asked who wanted to join me in some driving fun, and Garrus was the first to say no, followed immediately by Miranda. Apparently, they didn't have the same amount of fun that I did on Zeona. Zaeed is the first one to say yes, apparently he'd been itching for some real fun, and Kasumi said she loves fast cars. I told them both to meet me in the garage in 30 minutes. I finished putting on my armour and headed down to the CIC to get some information in the planet we were about to go groundside on. EDI had already brought up the Lattesh scan results, showing more data modules spread around an area by Dr Cayce in hopes of finding Prothean technology on the planet. There were no further signs of Cayce, O'Loy or the _Rosalie_, but I decided that we might as well investigate to make sure. The planet itself was just this side of frozen solid, and the area we were going to be landing in was currently experiencing a blizzard. EDI warned me that this mission was going to be about speed, and I smiled widely. She continued that the Hammerhead was never tested in these conditions, but her estimates said that the hovercraft could spend a maximum of 30 minutes in that storm before the engines froze completely and we were stuck there.

Once the three of us were comfortably in our seats, Kasumi in the navigator's seat and Zaeed behind us in the gunner's seat, Joker brought the _Normandy_ as far down as he was comfortable with. I powered up the turbines and hovered in the garage until he opened the loading ramp. That's when we got our first taste of just how cold this planet was. Kasumi was obviously a little distressed, and tried at the last minute to get out. I told her it was too late as I pushed forward on the controls, sending the Hammerhead out into the blizzard. We fell through the sky, Zaeed taking up my manic, delightful laughter, while Kasumi just screamed out my name, not hysterically, but louder and more insistently as we got closer to the ground.

When we were about 200 metres from becoming a metal pancake, I shouted at everyone to hold onto something. I gave them about a second before I slammed my foot down on the jump pedal, rapidly decelerating the Hammerhead and gently bringing us to a stop just above the ground. Zaeed just laughed, and said he hadn't done anything like that before, while Kasumi took some deep, calming breaths. She eventually calmed down enough to start the scanners and plot us a path to all the modules in the vicinity. I took the controls and stepped on the speed pedal, keeping one eye on the engine temperature, which was falling even as I watched it.

We got to the first one no problems, and by the second one found that all the rest of them were along a natural gully in the ice-covered landscape. We zoomed along the ground, stopping only long enough for the Hammerhead to pick up the data modules on our way. By the time we had five, the VI was telling us in a dulcet monotone that the engine temperature was below normal range. As we rocketed along the frozen river the engine temperature rose a little as the directed thrusters were activated, but I could still see it dropping, and was beginning to feel it now. I was also starting to have trouble seeing, as a layer of ice was forming over the Hammerhead, including on the window I was using to see.

By the time we were heading towards the last module beacon, the VI was telling us that the engine temperature was starting to reach a critical low. I radioed Joker to get ready to pick us up quickly, because I estimated our time until engine freeze at about five minutes tops, and us not long after that. He said he'd be there to catch us, and I put my foot down harder, if that was possible. We ascended the natural ramp that lead us to the final module beacon and picked it up, seeing the _Normandy_ descend to get us. I rerouted some extra power into the turbines as I hit the jump pedal hard, hoping it would get us some extra height to help us into the _Normandy_. We didn't have a problem though, easily getting through the loading ramp and into the ship, the ramp closing behind us as Joker took us back into orbit.

The three of us got out and saw that the ice had formed a layer almost a centimetre thick over the entire Hammerhead, and was even starting to form around the hot parts of the engines. Kasumi looked at the hovercraft, then me, and mumbled something about me being crazy. I'm beginning to think that Zaeed and I are the only ones who appreciate my driving skills. The three of us unloaded the modules again and transported them to the AI core for EDI to analyse. I headed up to my cabin and told Joker that I wanted to set a course to the next target, and he said the closest of the two was in the Hawking Eta cluster. I remembered that this cluster was right on the edge of Alliance space, so we'd probably have to be careful. I told him to set a course, but prepare to have the stealth systems engaged the minute we come across any Alliance ships, however unlikely. He just replied that he does that anyway, and I turned off the radio and took a shower before heading to bed.

I woke up about seven hours later, early on the 15th. I radioed Joker to tell me our status, and he said that we were about an hour out from the Verr system, where our next target was. I asked him if we'd run into any Alliance ships near the Hawking Eta relay, and he said there hadn't been any need for the stealth systems yet. I called out to EDI and her hologram appeared near the door. I asked her if there was anything in the data modules from Lattesh. She said there was nothing on the location of the scientists or the _Rosalie_, but there had been some interesting data relating to reducing atmospheric interference in communication equipment. Not exactly what I'd always dreamed of, but it never hurt to have some new tech.

I got my armour on, just to get it warm, and then went down to the CIC just as we were coming out of FTL and closing fast on Corang, the planet EDI had identified. The initial scans and the data she recovered suggested that Cayce and O'Loy were investigating some minor ruins still left on the planet that were emitting some sort of signal. Joker chose that moment to inform me that whatever else was down there, there were geth, as LADAR showed at least three dropships and an indeterminate number and type of walking platforms. I called down to Garrus and Zaeed and told them to be ready at the Hammerhead in 15 minutes. I told them that there were geth on the planet, so we'd need to be on our toes. They both acknowledged, and I went by the armoury to grab my weapons, just in case. The Hammerhead had a weapons system and by the look of it, decent shields and good mobility, but I'd much rather have a weapon I could use if it came to foot combat.

Twenty minutes later the three of us were in the Hammerhead, checking and rechecking every system was operational as Joker began to descend into Corang's atmosphere. Once Joker had descended as far as he could to the drop zone, I pushed forward on the controls and the hovercraft floated quickly out of the loading ramp and into the air. Zaeed pulled up the scanners as soon as we were airborne, quickly confirming geth presence at the nearest point of interest. They hadn't seemed to notice our presence yet though, so I let us freefall until about 200m up, when I hit the jump pedal to slow our descent.

As soon as we hit the ground though, the geth changed their attitude towards us, firing at the Hammerhead. The shields soaked up the incoming fire as Garrus just lined them up, set the missiles to seek for electronic signatures and pulled the trigger. Four rockets later, all that was left of our adversaries was some scrap and white fluid stains on the rusty ground. Whatever else Corang had been during the height of the Prothean Empire, all that was left now was a junkyard of a planet, covered in rusting metals of various kind and with acid flowing freely like rivers. We drove up to the first target, and it was clear that the geth hadn't been wasting their time here. They'd already set up some form of equipment on top of the area, which made it easy for us as all we then had to do was get detailed scans of their equipment.

After the first one was scanned, Zaeed plotted in a course for the next relic. We ended up needing the jump function of the Hammerhead more often that I suspected, due mostly to the haphazard nature of the fallen ruins. At the second one we encountered our first heavy geth resistance. A dropship flew over as we approached, dropping several troopers, a few destroyers and a quadrupedal colossus. We took a strafing action to take them out, circling around them and jumping irrationally to make us a hard target while Garrus just kept his finger on the trigger. The troopers only took one rocket each, the destroyers taking two because of their shields. The colossus was a different story entirely, taking nearly 15 rockets in total to strip it of shields and armour before it finally went down. After taking them down we scanned the geth structure and went to the next one on our map.

We followed the map and found our way to a cliff overhanging an acid flow. On the top of the cliff were several geth. I told Garrus to take out the two on the left and right, and to leave the middle one to me. He did so as the geth fired into the shields, and once they were down I planted my foot on the speed pedal. The final geth didn't seem to realise what was going on, just kept firing right up until the point where the front of the Hammerhead smashed into its torso, sending it flying into the flowing acid. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough control to avoid a quick splash in the bright yellow acid either before I got us over something more solid. The VI told us dully that acid wasn't good for the hovercraft, reminding me of when Joker said something similar about the _Normandy_ after rescuing us on Therum.

The next three geth structures had various strengths of geth protecting them, and at a few points the shield failed as I could see rounds sparking as it hit the armoured chassis, but it never came too close as Garrus was a good man on the rocket launcher. After the final one had been scanned, we radioed Joker. We were on a high part of what probably used to be a skyscraper, so Joker could bring the _Normandy_ close enough for me to jump easily into the loading bay. As we left the atmosphere I transferred the data from the scans of the geth structures to EDI to see if there was anything useful there, since there was no signs of the scientists or the _Rosalie_, like I had suspected. I went back up to the CIC and looked at the travel time to the next target. We were currently in the Hawking Eta cluster, and the next target was in the Caleston Rift cluster. I plotted in a course and asked Joker how long it would take to get us there. He said he could probably have us there in 7 hours, and I thanked him and left for the armoury. I had some time to kill, so I figured I might as well spend it productively. I picked up the Mattock and radioed Garrus to join me in the garage for some more target practice.

Ten minutes later, Garrus set up the target while I checked the weapon again, making sure I had everything. Once he joined me at my end, he told me to take up a firing stance and he'd check it for mistakes. I took up my stance and he said it was much better than last time, though he still moved the rifle up, but not very much. Once I had his approval I shot at the target again in five-round bursts, deliberately taking time between shots. After 90 minutes I called it quits, and Garrus said he was proud of how far I had come in this session. I had started with my first several salvos at about 42cm grouping, but by the time I was tired of firing, I'd reduced it to about 25cm. I know in the Alliance that would get me exactly nowhere since the target distance was only 25m. I asked Garrus about the turian military, and about the scores required to be proficient with a rifle there. He replied that the turian military puts a lot more focus into riflemen, needing to have a grouping of at most 10cm at 100m. I raised an eyebrow, since that seemed pretty steep, and he nodded in agreement, but said that military basic training for the turian military is a lot longer and more focused than the Alliance.

After heading back up to the armoury and stowing my weapon, I went down to get some lunch. I had to say, it was a lot more enjoyable going to eat since the visit to the Citadel, Gardner was pulling out all the stops. Coq au vin for lunch today, a Spanish Earth recipe I hadn't had for years, and he did it very well. Joker hit the relay in the Hawking Eta system just as I was finishing, making me feel a little queasy as the change in space-time occurred. I went back up to my cabin to take off my armour, as I still had it on from target practice. I called out to EDI and asked if she had found anything from the Corang data. She said that there had been no new data on Cayce and O'Loy, but there had been a few tidbits on the geth that were new. We were still five hours out from our next target, and having nothing better to do I asked EDI if there was a portable holo-projector anywhere nearby. She said there was one in the crew deck, and asked me what I was planning to use it for. I told her I was going to kill some time with some entertainment. She said nothing, though I imagine she would have raised an eyebrow if she could.

As for me, I just went and got the projector and then went down the elevator to the garage. I set the projector up on crate, set up a few chairs we had in storage around an empty area, and then went up to the mess to talk to Gardner. I knew I had ordered some popcorn when we had gone to the Citadel, but had forgotten how much. I asked him if we had enough for the whole crew, and he said we did, though asked what I needed it for. I told him to just get it out, but not to cook it yet until I had some numbers. I then went over to the table and sat down, bringing up the wireless intercom on my omni-tool. I spoke quietly, enough to be heard over the ship speakers but not to be overwhelming. I told the crew that I was hosting the first _Normandy_ SR-2 movie down in the garage in 30 minutes, and those who wanted to join me should meet in the mess in about 15 minutes.

It didn't take long, and soon most of the off-duty crew were there, as well as most of the on-duty crew who knew that travelling at FTL didn't require them at their stations. In all there were about 25, which was most of the crew of the ship, including Zaeed, Kasumi, Garrus and Jacob and they all seemed enthusiastic about the idea. I guessed Mordin was busy working on the Collector data, he seemed so happy when he got the chance to do that. Miranda came out of her office to say this was a waste of time and that she didn't approve, and I just told her that this was optional, and if she didn't feel like having a bit of fun while there was time to kill, that was her business. She gave me a look somewhere between frustration and jealousy, and then went back to her office, the eyes of several of the crewmembers following her, or at least certain parts of her, very closely. I just shrugged my shoulders and made a mental note to talk to her later, and told Gardner to set the popcorn cooking, which gave everyone a reason to cheer. When I eventually established order, I told them all that since I was running the show, and that we had time to kill, I was going to establish a little tradition about the _Normandy_. Every so often, I would personally screen a film down in the garage. Today, since I had done all the work, I would get to choose the film. However, I would be setting up a page on the crew deck with movie requests, which would eventually get shown depending on demand. This idea went down well, and someone asked me what I had planned for today's offering

About this time the popcorn was audibly ready, even the dextro equivalent for Garrus, so I told them to load up their bowls and head down to the garage. Being the captain, I of course let everyone else get theirs first, mostly due to looking out for them, but mostly because I didn't want anyone to see the massive smile on my face when it came to my guilty pleasure: putting lots of melted butter and salt on my popcorn. Once I was done, and doing my best to hide my massive grin, I joined everyone down in the garage, who had set themselves up on the crates I had arranged earlier. I pulled up my omni-tool, which still had a lot of my saved movies on it, since I had transferred them as soon as I was able to. I pulled up one of my favourites, transferred it into the now running holo-projector and then sat down on a free seat next to Joker. He leaned over and whispered to me something about hoping it wasn't one of those awful romantic comedies, and I told him not to worry.

The garage went dark and the projector only showed the words 'A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…' A lot of the crew obviously hadn't seen the classics, so most of them jumped when the music started blaring and the bright yellow 'STAR WARS' burst into view. A few of those that had leaned forward in anticipation, wondering which one I had selected. Eventually the title 'Return of the Jedi' came up, and someone asked what Star Wars was. I told them it was a classic movie made about 200 years ago, and one of my personal favourites, and that seemed to be all that was required. The rest of the movie was pretty well received, and I'm glad that Lucasfilm Enterprises, as they were now known, had decided to release a holographic projector version of the original six films. At one point I looked around and saw Miranda up in the engineering deck, looking almost longingly down at the rest of us. She must have seen me though, because she was gone the next time I looked a minute later.

After the credits rolled and I brought the lights back to the normal level, everyone thanked me. Conversations broke into smaller groups as people went back to duty or to bed, and I heard some in discussion about what movie they wanted to see next. I smiled a little at that, because it meant the crew were coming around to me, liking me rather than respecting my reputation. Garrus came over and gave me a smile, and asked why I hadn't thought of this sooner. I told him the idea had just come to me then, and he seemed to accept that answer. He and a few of the crew stayed and helped me put the garage back to normal, and we took our empty popcorn bowls back up to the mess.

I decided to go and check on Mordin, seeing as he hadn't been very sociable the last few days. I walked into the lab to find him anxiously hovering over the sealed tissue synthesis equipment. I walked over and asked him what he was working on. He turned around quickly with a smile on his face, saying he was about to test a prototype of his Collector swarm countermeasure. This piqued my interest, so I took a few more steps until I was standing next to him. He explained that what I was looking at were two samples of cloned human tissue covered with armour that gave off signals like a real human would. He said that the one on the left was a control, just normal armour, and the one on the right was armour with a prototype mod that should scramble human signatures. I asked him what he planned to test it on, and he turned around and walked over to an isolation unit, one that was currently occupied with some sort of insect. I asked him what it was, and he said he'd synthesised it about 12 hours ago, using the readings from Freedom's Progress. He picked up the unit and moved to the top of the other chamber until two iris locks connected. He said that when he opened the boxes, the insect should only attack the sample on the left. I took a step back, seeing as the little insect was looking rather agitated at the sight of me. Mordin didn't seem to notice and hit the button, the insect immediately taking flight and attacking the arm on the left, stinging it with its 'tail' and putting it in some kind of stasis field that Mordin was getting interesting readings from. It seemed to be working, as the insect only seemed interested in the control arm for a minute, and then it attacked the test arm in the same manner. If anything, this failure of a prototype seemed to make Mordin happier as he disabled the bug, returned it to isolation and began going over some figures from the readings. I said goodbye and left him to it, bringing up Joker on the radio and asking him whether we were near our target or not.

He said we still had about an hour to go before we reached the Yakawa system, so I went back up to my cabin and took out my armour. It had finished the auto-cleaning cycle, but I took out the maintenance kit that every locker comes with. I pulled out the fine scrubbing brush and went over every piece of my armour very carefully, removing small bits that the auto-cleaner had missed. The whole process took about an hour, most of it taken up by cleaning the nooks in the undersuit rather than the ceramic plates that go on top of it.

I had just finished when Joker said he'd brought us into orbit of Karumto, and that I probably wouldn't like where I had to go. I just put on my armour and went down to the CIC, looking at the scan of the dropsite EDI had brought up. Of course, it was right in the middle of the crater of an active volcano. What was it about dangerous areas of planets that Cayce and O'Loy found so vital? Couldn't that have tried a grassy field somewhere, would that be too much to ask? I just brought up the radio and asked who wanted in this time. Zaeed put his hand up again, and Kasumi joined Garrus and Miranda in saying no. Jacob said it was about time he rode shotgun, so the three of us made our way down to the garage.

Joker brought the Normandy to the edge of the crater, saying this was as far as the Normandy could go. The VI helpfully said that it was unable to plot a course down to the research lab, but Jacob managed to find it and said he could get us there. I waited until he had finished, and he said this was the best he could do. I followed the direction he gave me until we came to a cliff, which was at the end of a very long trench. The walls had uneven platforms on them, just large enough for me to jump between them. I jumped across several on the eastern side, when there was a powerful rumbling and one of the stone platforms was taken out by massive boulders falling from somewhere above. The rumbling ceased shortly after that, and the VI helpfully informed us that the volcano was currently unstable.

We made it to the research lab without further incident, but it was right at the edge of the lava pool at the bottom of the crater. We got out on foot, feeling the incredible heat even inside the sealed garage. We went through and found the main lab area, one of the logs helpfully saying that just underneath was a Prothean star map. I'm guessing that when the Protheans made it, there wasn't an active volcano here- 50,000 years is a long time. We found a scanner next to the window with a view of the lava pool outside. The lab VI told us that the scanner would give us information on the content of the star map, but activating the power grid would exponentially increase the volcanic instability. Great, another choice where I can either leave and learn nothing, or take a chance to learn something vital and burn to death.

I ended up taking the second option. I activated the scanner and copied the information to my omni-tool as it came. When it was done the three of us decided it was high time to leave, since we could see the lava pool rising and the lab was starting to explode around us. We had to take a slight detour as the main walkway exploded in front of us, but we made it to the Hammerhead and dived in. Luckily the engines were still warm, so we could get moving quickly. I took the only option that seemed available at the time, which was a natural tunnel leading up, which was an important direction since the lava was starting to rapidly fill the crater. It reminded me a little of the scene from the movie we had just watched, where the _Millennium Falcon_ had to outrun a massive explosion through a cramped tunnel. Luckily for us, the tunnel didn't unexpectedly cut off, but there were a few tight corners and jumps where I'm sure I scratched the paintjob.

Jacob hadn't been idle this whole time; he was contacting the Normandy and giving Joker our estimated location. Zaeed kept a watch on the rear, checking as the lava seemed to get ever closer to our tail. Eventually I saw the end of the tunnel leading out into open sky, with the nose of the Normandy coming closer. I slammed on the thruster pedal, and at the last moment hit the jump pedal as well. We got some unexpected propulsion from the venting gases preceding the lava, but even then it was only just enough for me to scrape a landing in the garage. Joker didn't wait around for an invitation to be gone though, tearing away from the volcano only a minute before it exploded, still close enough to feel the shockwave when it hit us.

Joker didn't appreciate having to pull me out of another volcano in his lifetime, and vehemently told me so, but had enough sense to do it on a private channel so only I could hear it. I let him vent, knowing that if I did and apologised for it, he'd have my back later. As the three of us got out I called the engineers down and asked them to make sure the Hammerhead was ready to go for the next mission, since scraping against the walls of a magma vent probably wasn't the best thing for it.

I sent the data to EDI and asked her to analyse it quickly. I went up to my cabin and took off my armour, before heading down to the CIC. By the time I got there EDI was already talking to me, saying she had analysed the data and had a location for me. Once I got to the galaxy map Kelly informed me that Cerberus had sent me an email with details on the _Rosalie_. I pulled it up on my private terminal, and it said basically that someone on the Rosalie had been sending transmissions to an unknown location and receiver, and the geth had been tracking these transmissions. They also gave the last known location of the _Rosalie_ based on its transmissions. I looked at the location and at the galaxy map where EDI had placed a marker showing the location of a major Prothean site from the star map on Karumto. It must have been my lucky day, because both of them were the same, the moon of Kopis. I plotted the course into the galaxy map and Joker said we'd be there sometime in the next 12-14 hours. I was fine with that, because there were two things I really needed right now: food and sleep.

I went down to the mess and got myself some food, talking to some of the appreciative crew who had been down to see the movie a few hours ago. While the concepts of day and night were largely moot on a starship, it was coming on the changeover from dayshift to nightshift, some like me eating before going to sleep, other just waking up and eating before starting their shift. I finished the meal and then went up and showered and went to sleep.

I can't say it was a great sleep, because the nightmares came back. Flashes of lights, explosions and screaming, massive tentacles and teeth, acid shooting like missiles as the thresher maws destroyed my unit on Akuze. Batarians killing people with gleeful abandon and taking screaming humans as slaves on Mindoir. The sight of my parents slain on the floor of my home, having told me to hide upstairs. The vision from the Prothean beacon as well, Reapers descending on entire worlds and killing their populations, all jumbled since it was made for a Prothean mind, not a human one with a Cipher. The screams of the innocent and the guilty alike as my decisions got them killed, either by my hands or others. I woke up screaming in a cold sweat, sitting bolt upright and fully awake. I checked the time and it had only been two hours. I couldn't tell, because it felt alternately like seconds and days since I'd fallen asleep. I tried to fall back asleep, and made it eventually, but it was the uneasy and light sleep of those haunted.

I eventually woke up again after 6 more hours, taking a shower to get rid of the sweat, and then going to the mess for something to wake me up. Garrus sat next to me when he got there, taking one look at my face and the mug of green tea in my hand and knowing what had just happened. He asked me if the nightmares had been bad this time, and I just nodded. Everyone on the original _Normandy_ must have heard my screams at one point or another, I'm just glad that no one ever reported it. They were supportive, especially Chakwas, who said that brain chemistry studies had come far since the 20th century, allowing her to give me some medication that would allow me to sleep without dreaming. I made a mental note to see her again for more of those. As soon as I had finished breakfast, seeing the nightshift starting to rouse their dayshift counterparts, I called up Joker and asked him how long until we were at the Hoplos system. He said we still had about 2 hours to go. I looked at Garrus and he just nodded, knowing that this was time for more target practice.

We both got our stuff and went down to the garage again. I took up my stance and he said it was good, not needing to correct anything this time. I spent the next 90 minutes just concentrating on my firing, both grouping and precision, and I have to admit even I was satisfied with the results. Garrus said my improvement was just short of incredible. This time, I had been able to hit the centre of the target at least once with every five round burst, and my grouping was down to 15cm. Garrus nodded like an approving mentor, and said that next time he'd have some different targets for me to go with, something a little more realistic.

By the time the two of us had stowed away the targets and returned the Mattock to the armoury, Joker had brought us into orbit around Kopis, the largest moon of Makhaira. EDI had brought up the scan, showing the remains of the _Rosalie_ after it had crashed into the moon. In a nearby crater there was a strong shield around the area that the star map had given as the Prothean site. It was impossible to determine what had happened to the _Rosalie_, but the shield was definitely worth investigating. I took Garrus and called up Zaeed, not knowing what would be in store for us down there.

Kopis had fairly low gravity, about half Earth standard, so Joker brought the Normandy down near the edge of the crater while the three of us manned the Hammerhead. It was a much easier drop onto the surface this time, and we headed straight for the crater. The dome of the shield must have been very strong, since you usually don't see a kinetic barrier, even on ship. Zaeed pulled up the scanner and said that the kinetic barrier was almost impenetrable even at walking speed, but there was a flaw we could exploit. There were four external generators that would weaken the shield enough to get the Hammerhead through if we destroyed them. He also said that ground-penetrating radar was showing a large number of mechanical and electrical signals scattered around the area, about 30cm below the surface. He couldn't make out what they were, but he said they were most likely mines.

I pushed on the controls and followed one of the power conduits to the nearby generator. We found that the generators themselves were pretty flimsy, and we also found that the mine-like devices were actually ambush turrets. We tried to avoid the turrets as much as possible after that and went for the remaining three generators, easy to find by following the conduits. After the last generator fell, Zaeed scanned the barrier again; saying it was still there, but weak enough that we could get the Hammerhead through it. We went in following the dip of the inner crater and found a small garage. We found that it was sealed, and our suits gave us reading on a breathable atmosphere inside.

I took my helmet off as we got inside, pulling out my shotgun almost instantly as I spied a set of blue armour nearby. Zaeed and Garrus followed suit quickly, forming up on my six as we advanced on the Blue Suns armour. It turned out we didn't have to worry, since all we found was a corpse, with a single shot to the back of the head. This didn't bode well for what we'd find deeper in, especially with the eerie sound we could all hear. It was like a bell ringing in the distance, a death knell for the dead mercs we found further in. Some of them had been shot, others had died from falling debris. We finally came to a laptop and Garrus accessed the last entry, a voice recording by Cayce. His hysterical voice said that O'Loy had been contacting the geth, so he was going to kill O'Loy, the mercs, and destroy the relic. We found his body nearby at another terminal, this one connected to the Prothean relic that was the source of the noise. I hacked the terminal to access the relic, the eight walls retreating into the floor to reveal a relic remarkably similar to the one I'd found on Eletania. We found another body near the relic, the nametag on the suit revealing it was O'Loy. A datapad nearby told us the rest of the story. Apparently, he'd been looking for this relic for a while, and knew the Collectors had been abducting the colonies. He'd been sending transmissions to them, not the geth as Cayce had believed, bargaining with them to spare the colony his wife lived on in exchange for this ruin.

I walked closer to the relic itself. Just like the one on Eletania, it was a floating orb, moving slightly up and down in place. The surface was like mercury, a rippling pond reflecting the surroundings, but curiously not reflecting Zaeed, Garrus or myself. This one didn't have the hole in it that the one on Eletania had, so I wondered what its purpose was. I reached out to touch it, and I must have accidentally activated something. Where my hand touched there was a small ring of light, and then the relic began to float higher, making a whirring noise and surrounding itself with a green-yellow light. We didn't have time to more than watch this as just as suddenly as it began it released everything it had been gathering, the energy wave washing over us. The relic itself shrank from its current size of about 4 metres in diameter to about the size of a soccer ball, falling straight to the floor with a dull metallic sound. I cautiously moved towards it, wondering what would happen now. It did nothing as I approached and still nothing as I gave it an experimental nudge with my foot.

Satisfied that the show was over, I carefully picked it up. It was surprisingly light for something that looked like a solid metal ball, and yet it still was curiously refusing to reflect myself or my companions, like we were vampires in a mirror. I decided that it was safe enough to take back to the ship, just to make sure there was nothing else worth investigating. We went silently back to the Hammerhead and drove back to the waiting Normandy.

We got out and I went up to the AI core and placed the ball on EDI's scanner bed. I stuck around after I asked her to analyse it for anything, watching as she scanned it with light and used a manipulating arm to tap it in several places. After about 10 minutes she declared that the ball was now totally inert, and therefore safe, but it was constructed out of something she couldn't identify. I decided to take it up to my cabin, but not before stopping at the combat deck to drop off my weapons at the armoury. I went up to my cabin and placed my armour back in the locker and then put the relic on my desk. It was strange, but when I did, it almost seemed to bulge for a second, and give off the same noise it had on Kopis. I looked at it for a while as if it might do it again, but it just sat there, a silver soccer ball refusing to reflect my face.

I went up to my terminal and decided that it was about time to focus on recruiting again. I pulled up the dossiers that I still had and looked over them. I had the choice between a psychotic human biotic and a millennia-old krogan. I didn't know how long krogan lived for, but Wrex himself was older than an asari, and by the sounds of it Okeer was even older. I remembered what it was like having a krogan on the team fondly, both in terms of their ability to fight through wounds that would kill other species, and the handy biotic talent some possessed. I decided Okeer would be my next acquisition, given the bonus that he'd been dealing with the Collectors recently and could have valuable intel, whereas Jack had been in cryogenic isolation for the last three months, so wouldn't be able to tell me the date.

I called up Joker on the radio and told him to set a course for the Eagle Nebula. He asked me if we were going to Korlus, and I replied that we were, wondering what brought that up. He said it was a junkyard of a planet, and he didn't want to bring any ship there, least of all the Normandy. I just told him to buck up and take us there, and let me deal with anyone stupid enough to get in my way. He lightened up a little after that.

I'm not sure how long it was after I closed that channel that an urgent message came to me. Apparently another human colony had dropped out of contact – New Canton. I tried to remember why this sounded familiar, and then I remembered that Rolston had family on New Canton. I got on the intercom straight away, telling the crew that New Canton had dropped out of contact. While this could mean anything, we should prepare for worse news. I furthered that I was going to be in the mess for a drink for New Canton, and everyone was welcome to join.

So now we're heading to the Eagle Nebula to pick up a wizened old krogan who might have knowledge of the Collectors. I hope he does, because I'm tired of finding out colonies are being taken on the other side of the galaxy. I want to be able to save them, and stop these Collectors once and for all, to show them humanity isn't a pushover.


	9. Warlords and Grunts

Chapter 8 – Warlords and Grunts

April 16, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Osun System, Hourglass Nebula

Today didn't go anywhere near the way I had planned it. But then common military wisdom says that all plans have to be abandoned upon contact with the enemy, and today was no exception.

It started simply enough, with waking up, eating a good breakfast. After breakfast, I went back up to the flight deck to see our progress towards Korlus. As I walked up I could see EDI's hologram floating next to Joker, which meant that they were talking. As I got closer, I could hear the raised voices, and swiftly realised they were having an argument. They stopped as I stepped in the bridge, Joker swivelling his seat to face me. I asked them what was the meaning of all this shouting, and they both managed to look embarrassed, which is impressive for a non-descript hologram. EDI was the first to speak, saying that Joker had been falsifying maintenance reports and putting grease on the bridge cameras. Joker retorted that EDI had been remotely messing with his chair, that the grease was just 'personalisation' and that the report thing was just rounding up on task times to look good when we came in under.

I literally shook my head at this. If these two were 12, I'd swear they liked each other. I couldn't see why they were being so childish except that they both had previously been in control of the ship, and were now forced to share. Instead of trying to reach a compromise, they had decided to have a little meaningless prank war. I decided to give them both a piece of my mind, and as a bonus unload some of the stress I'd been feeling recently. I told EDI that Joker's tweaking was just harmless self-promotion, but grease on the cameras was going too far, and so was messing with his chair. They both said they'd be better from now on, and I planned to hold them to that.

One look out the windows told me that we were already in orbit of Korlus. I told EDI to get the briefing ready, because I was going to assemble the ground team in five minutes. She said that she'd have all the relevant data in the briefing room for me ASAP. I got on the intercom to everyone, and told them that there was going to be a briefing on the next mission. Once we were all in the briefing room, EDI brought up a hologram of Korlus.

She said that even with the three hours we'd been in orbit, she'd only recently pinpointed the location of Warlord Okeer. The entire planet was a junkyard, even worse than Corang, because all the junk was formed as massive ships crashed into the planet haphazardly. She'd monitored the radio traffic over the planet and had come up with a location and a complication. The hologram zoomed in to an area about five by five kilometres, strewn with the remains of huge cargo ships. She said that somewhere in this mess there was a lab that Okeer was using. The complication was that he appeared to be working for a woman known as Jedore. Zaeed had heard of her, one of the most heartless members of the Blue Suns outfit. EDI continued that there were only two ways in, and neither of them were close to where the lab was, highlighting the central area in green for the lab, and two areas about two kilometres away, one to the north east and one to the southwest. The sheer amount of metal was throwing off the lifesign readings, but EDI said that with a margin of error there would only be 200 Blue Suns down there.

I leaned in and studied the map, manipulating it and looking at the landing sites and possible routes to the central area. It wasn't much, but it was the best we currently had. I then made a copy of the map to my omni-tool, before deciding that since we were so heavily outnumbered for this mission, we were all going in. We would split into two teams and each one was to make their way separately towards the lab. Since we only had one shuttle, there would have to be two drops. Fortunately, their sensors would be just as scrambled as ours due to all the metal, so it was unlikely that they'd be able to find the shuttle to even try to shoot it down. I would take Zaaed, Kasumi and Miranda and get out at the southwest LZ, while Garrus would lead the second team consisting of Jacob and Mordin and get out at the northeast LZ. I asked anyone if they had a problem with this arrangement, and there were only shaking heads.

I dismissed everyone by telling them I wanted them all ready and down in the shuttle bay in 15 minutes. I then went to my cabin, donning my armour and then heading to the armoury to get my weapons. I considered taking the Mattock, but I decided I needed more practice with it before I was ready to use it. I looked over at Zaeed's Mattock, and saw he'd added something to the stock with his knife. Under his impressive, and slightly intimidating, kill number there were now a few more notches, as well a word – 'VIDO'. Twenty years of waiting must have made that kill more than memorable. I guessed that he was still putting on his armour, so I went down and waited at the shuttle, finding Kasumi and Mordin already there. The two of them didn't wear a lot in the way of armour, but my visor told me that their shields were a lot more powerful than the standard ones, and I'd personally seen Mordin in combat. I didn't think there would be a problem with either of them today.

It wasn't a long wait before all seven of us were in the shuttle and heading down to the surface. Joker let the VI pilot the shuttle down, and I told one last thing to everyone before the shuttle landed at LZ1. We knew that Okeer was here, but we had no idea whether it was by choice. I also told team two to keep in contact throughout the mission as I got out, with the shuttle then quickly taking off again, headed for the northeast.

We started moving towards the lab area when we heard a woman's voice loudly over a PA system. It sounded a lot like the clichéd Communist Russian propaganda from the 20th that you learned about in history. I tuned it out mostly, since it would be nothing more than a distraction in combat. A few minutes after we started I heard Garrus' voice over the radio, saying that team two had just landed and were making their way to the lab. My team turned a corner and came across some trouble, in the form of Blue Suns mercs with assault rifles. We took what cover the wreckage of centuries provided and gave back their fire with interest. I could see one young looking human with a hand to his ear, obviously the designated radioman. I shot him in the leg when he carelessly tried to run out of the fight, before putting my next shot right through a batarian's head. Once they were all down, we walked up, pleasantly surprised to see that the one I had shot in the leg was still alive.

He was holding his leg and cursing about it bleeding. Zaeed just whispered that he'd seen worse, and to tell the truth so had I, but he didn't need to know that. The threat of impending death usually loosened people's tongues, especially when they looked like they'd never seen combat before. I walked up to him and he started cursing at me, saying something about how since we attacked at range, we weren't berserkers. He also said defiantly that he wasn't going to talk, stupid really since there were four armed people ready to shoot him. I told him he wasn't in a position to bargain, and that one way or another; he'd answer my questions. I asked him where Okeer was and what he was doing here, and I got the reply that I knew more that he did.

He was just here to shoot krogan. Jedore had hired the warlord to create an army of krogan, but Okeer's just turned out insane, so Jedore used them for live ammo training for her mercs. Zaeed said that was typical of her. At this point his radio came to life, someone asking for details on the last group of krogan. This was new information for me, and having a third party might be a hindrance, or a boon if I could work it to my favour. I told radio guy to give them bad directions, and he said that he didn't have any information; I'd attacked before he could get a sighting. I pulled out my shotgun and told him he had bigger problems, and they were far more immediate. His eyes widened and his pupils narrowed, and he swallowed tightly. He radioed that the last group was headed east of two, and he got a curse in reply. He spat at the ground near my feet, a good amount of blood mixed with the saliva, saying that they'd run blind into krogan. I didn't much care about him or his merc friends, so I told him to find a nice shady spot to bleed out. He started limping away and I shook my head at his gullibility. His wound would congeal in about 30 minutes if he stopped moving, and wouldn't be fatal unless he was really stupid about first aid, or ran into a krogan. Either way, he wasn't my problem anymore.

I radioed Garrus about the krogan situation and then kept moving, Zaeed helpfully patching us into the Blue Suns comm. frequency. As we moved towards the central wreck towering above the landscape, we heard the radio dispatch calling out to team four and getting no response, since we had taken them out. The dispatch continued, hypothesising that either the krogan were pushing, or there was a raid in progress, which given the nature of Korlus, was just as likely. Either way, the dispatcher obviously didn't relish the task of having to tell this to Jedore.

We moved closer to the base of the biggest wreck, when we came across an interesting sight. A team of Blue Suns were engaged with a single krogan, the massive reptile shooting at them with just a shotgun. The four of us decided to add our own guns into the mix, but not before one of them got a warning off to the rest of the mercs confirming out presence. I shot the radioman just as he finished talking, and when Jedore didn't get a response she decided to shout over the PA that we were to be killed or everyone would lose their bonuses. That didn't sound good for us, so I got back in cover before the krogan charged and told Garrus that they knew we were here. Garrus acknowledged and signed off, and I turned to look at my team. I got them all to nod at me, and then leaned out of cover, ready to fire at the krogan about to tear into us.

Only it wasn't charging at us, it was just standing there, shotgun on its back, staring at the big wreck in front of us. I walked towards it, weapon ready but not on a hair trigger. I wasn't sure why the krogan had decided not to attack us, maybe it hadn't noticed the fire from our guns, being insane like the merc had said previously. I took another step towards it and it turned its armoured head to face us, its body following a second later. It didn't fire at us, and while I couldn't tell its expression through the helmet, it had cocked its head slightly to the side in the universal gesture of confusion. He then spoke to us in a deep, and I had to admit, slightly sexy voice, but the sentences were oddly constructed. The krogan said that we were not of this world, and that for seven nights he'd felt only the need to kill, but that something made him want to speak to us. Zaeed questioned incredulously that this krogan was only a week old, but I'd seen a lot stranger things, like rachni supposedly extinct for 2,000 years.

I realised that Okeer must breed the krogan fully grown, but they wouldn't be much better than ordinary mercs if they still needed training. The krogan seemed confused by this statement of training. He said he wasn't bred to kill; he did it because he felt the need to, but that was not why he was flushed from the 'Glass Mother.' It took a few seconds for me to realise that he meant a tank with glass walls. He continued that he was bred to fight the enemy of all krogan, but he had failed even before waking, that the voice in the water told him this. He said that is why he waits here. I asked him about the voice, and why he had failed.

He said that he had heard a scratching sound, but in his head, and it became the voice. He called it father, and it pleased the voice. The voice taught him things, how to move and kill, how to speak. But then the voice told him that he was not perfect, and the teaching stopped. The voice was disappointed that the krogan was not what he needed to be to fight the enemy. Zaeed interjected that putting two and two together, a lab and krogan meant searching for a cure for the genophage. The krogan looked up at this and said this was not so. The voice had never mentioned cure, only resist, survive, ignore. This didn't make sense to me, how did Okeer mean to ignore the genophage without curing it? Zaeed said he didn't care and it doesn't matter, since it obviously wasn't a resounding success from what we'd seen.

I turned to the strangely docile krogan and asked him to show me the way to the lab. He nodded and walked over to a piece of bulkhead that had fallen awkwardly. He picked it up like it was a canvas and threw it out of the way, revealing the entrance to some kind of tunnel. He said that the 'Glass Mother' was up, behind many broken pieces and fleshy things. He looked at the wall he had just moved and said that fleshy things like me are slow when big things are in the way. I had half a mind to just move out, but then I wondered if this krogan might help us. He said he would not, because the voice had told him to fight. He wouldn't run, and he wouldn't follow either, he would just wait until he was called and released. He then turned around and stood back where he had finished the previous gunfight. Kasumi looked at the bulkhead the krogan had moved and said that it wasn't subtle, but she liked his style. I radioed Garrus that we had new information on the target, and that we were moving into the central wreck in the area. Garrus said that the mercs were giving his team a little trouble on the other side, but nothing they couldn't handle.

The four of us entered the tunnel, and I tightened the grip on my shotgun. This tunnel had lots of blind turns, little cover from this end, and only one way in or out, which to me smelled like a trap. We advanced cautiously before two mercs came running blindly down the tunnel straight towards us, screaming in fear. I shot one but the other one didn't even seem to notice us, he just ran right past. That wasn't a good sign. We all advanced, two taking cover while the other two advanced until we came to an chasm spanned by improvised bridges made of bulkheads. There wasn't a whole lot of cover on the bridge, which we found out about half way across was a very bad thing. My visor lit up with six enemy contacts coming our way, so I told everyone to take cover quickly. We all managed it just as the six towering krogan came into view. It was too much to hope that these ones were of the same non-confrontational attitude as their sibling outside- something quickly proven as they began shooting at us.

Our one saving grace in this battle was the fact that their shotguns were only basic, and they had to come across narrow bridges, funnelling them into our view. The first three came across one of the bridges and I tried a shockwave to throw them off. It hit the first one by surprise, sending him into the yawning gulf, but the rest of them were ready, broadening their stance and almost taking root. The shockwave hit them and they barely flinched before continuing to advance, their anti-armour ammunition burning white-hot into the cover we were hiding behind. I shouted at my crew to change to heavy pistols and the like to punch through their armour, and to aim for the head and legs, because shooting a krogan in the torso is like trying to shoot a starship with a pistol – almost zero chance of hitting anything vital enough to cause damage.

Kasumi and Miranda proved to be good shots with their pistols, shooting out the knees of the advancing krogan. To their credit, they didn't fall over or stop, they just shouted at us and then kept advancing, albeit slower than before. This suited us, as it gave us all time to line up headshots with our weapon of choice and take them out. Unfortunately, the krogan were too heavy for biotics to be very effective, so I had to rely on my trusty shotgun.

After we had dealt with the krogan, there came another burst of merc chatter requesting heavy support, saying that the krogan had taken out the sensor grid, and they were getting hit on all sides.I radioed Garrus, asking him if it was really the krogan who'd taken out the grid. He replied that the three of them had spied a few things they could do to mess with the mercs, just like I'd done on Virmire. It had slowed them down a little though, and they were having to navigate around some groups of krogan that were simply too big for them to handle. I told them that was fine, and to keep advancing towards my position.

We came across a set of stairs that had seen recent use, judging by the pattern of dust and dirt around. We followed them up until we came to a door that someone had decided to seal by shooting the control panel. Kasumi helped me pry off the cover panel, and we discovered that whoever shot it was either a bad shot, or we got really lucky. It was a simple job to bypass the shot circuits and get the door open. As we climbed more stairs, the mercs came back over the radio, shouting at whoever was on the channel that they needed Jedore and her personal guard. We finally came across an improvised medbay, with several cots and medkits around. I took some of the available medi-gel, topping up the store in my suit. We opened the next door to find another artificial canyon, with some heavy Blue Suns artillery on the other side. We took care of them quickly, Miranda and I pulling them into the open and letting them fall to their deaths.

The next ten minutes were a series of stairs and shootouts with mercs. At one point we heard the merc on the radio again saying that the krogan were down, but we were still coming. About as soon as he finished that sentence we could hear a lot of impacts on the line, and he requested support again before we heard a pained scream. That line closed and I heard Garrus mutter 'I love this rifle' at his end. The mercs got tougher as we ascended, taking advantage of the closer quarters to use shotguns to better advantage. The better shields and armour of the officers were also a little troublesome, but not much. We finally made it to another medbay, this time with a krogan on the reinforced cot instead of any other species.

I heard an intake of breath to my left and turned towards it, shotgun at the ready. An asari came out from under the desk, apparently surprised to see me. She told me that she was Rana Thanoptris, and we'd met on Virmire. I had a memory of a very scared asari who gave me access to Saren's private files and lab when I told her I was going to nuke the place, though I seem to remember her having a different skin tone. She definitely seemed more teal than the last time at any rate. She said that she'd outrun the blast on Virmire in a utility pod until she came to a nearby outpost.

I can't say I was thrilled to meet someone who used to work for Saren again, so I asked her what she was doing here. She replied that wasn't wasting the chance I'd given her, that the work she was doing was strictly beneficial. Jedore was on a fairly standard power trip, and wanted Okeer to breed an army of krogan for her. Okeer mostly ignored her; he was doing this for his own reasons, even if they were a little extreme. Rana said that since she was a neuro-specialist, she'd created a mental implant routine for Okeer to educate the krogan while they developed in the tanks. Most of them didn't last very long though, so he dumped them in Jedore's lap. She didn't know why he dumped them, or what he was really trying to do. She knew he was trying to help the krogan, but he wasn't looking for a genophage cure or huge numbers. This was enough information for me, so I told her that I wanted her to try harder to avoid trouble. She said that she had no problems with that, and if I'd excuse her, she was going to run away, very fast, because given my record, I'd likely blow the place up. She didn't wait for me to say anything else; she just brushed past me and left.

Kasumi said that she was nice, in a mad scientist, ethics-for-sale kind of way. I personally didn't much care for her, given her past allegiance, but her work since then seemed to be heading in the right direction. I sighed inside, some people try hard to do good work, but just end up working at the wrong place, at the wrong time, for the wrong people. I led the four of us to the door at the end of the room. When it opened we were greeted by the sight of large warehouse-looking room that had been converted into a lab by simply adding technology ad hoc. The only occupants of the room were two krogan, one working on a console next to the other one, a massive krogan in a tank. When I say massive, I mean massive though, even by krogan standards. Though the tank's glass distorted the reality, he was easily 2.5 metres tall, and his frill was made up of a series of armoured plates rather than the single spiked plate seen commonly among males.

The other krogan looked old, if the reflection in the console was any guess. I could see what looked like wrinkles, and I hadn't seen them on Wrex, who never told me his age but given what he'd lived through had to be at least 1400 years. If this krogan had wrinkles, he had to be a lot older than Wrex. He didn't turn around as he said it was about time I'd gotten there, the batteries in the tanks wouldn't last while I played with those mercs. I remembered from my dealings with Wrex that krogan only respect strength, even strength of character, so I decided to give him some. I told him that wasn't the way to greet armed people who just kicked down the door. He replied, unsuprised, that whoever had sent me didn't want him dead, especially someone who would send a dead Shepard.

He turned around and asked me if I was surprised he knew my identity. I'll admit, that one I wasn't expecting. He said that all krogan should know me after what I had done on Virmire, and he suspected Rana had already revisited our respective times there. I told him that I bet he would too. He seemed thrilled to tell the tale, and he told it well. Saren the traitor, threatening the return of the horde by curing the genophage. Then in rides Shepard, securing victory through nuclear fire. He smiled as he said he liked that part, it had weight that history would anchor to. I told him I did what I had to do that day, and he did something I didn't expect, he agreed with me. He said that the pathetic soldiers Saren produced were not true krogan, they were weak but had numbers, the mistake of an outsider.

His work was to make the krogan strong again. Many believed, even within the krogan, that those who survived the genophage were strong. This was apparently a lie, the only ones that survived the genophage were merely lucky. Those that lived were treated softly, like precious little salarian princesses. Okeer was here to make the krogan strong again, and to inflict the greatest insult the krogan could give to the genophage - to be ignored. His prototype in the tank was the first, a true and powerful krogan after thousands of years. He turned to me and said that the galaxy still bore the scars of the horde, but they would learn to fear the lance. He said that he had given his rejects to Jedore, but she was getting impatient, and he wanted me to take him out of here.

Zaeed said bluntly that we were here for information on the Collectors, not him and his pet project, and I saw Miranda nodding. Okeer nodded, saying that Collector attacks on human colonies were increasing, but that it was a human concern. His only concern was his prototype, and making sure it survived. I told him that he knew how to deconstruct a threat, a talent that would be very useful for my mission. He said that he would be willing to make a deal to secure passage, but that his prototype was non-negotiable, it was the key to his legacy and the survival of the krogan.

Before I could bargain, Jedore came in over the PA. She said she had tracked the release of extra krogan to Okeer. She could see us all in the lab, and said she was going to gas us all and start over from Okeer's data. Okeer just looked down at her in disbelief that she would do such a thing. He turned to me, an anxious expression in his eyes. He said he'd be willing to tell me everything he knew about the Collectors, but I had to stop her madness. I replied that was beyond my skill set, but I would gladly kill her. That brought a smile to his lips, and said she'd try and access contaminants. No sooner did he say that then gas started filling the room, and I suspected it wasn't the healthy kind. Kasumi ran to the door leading to Jedore, omni-tool alight as she held it open against its programming. I asked him why the prototype was so important he couldn't leave it and start over like Jedore planned. He said that this one pure soldier took as much trial as data to make, and he'd consumed all the technology from the Collectors to make it. He told me and my squad to go, he'd stay here and do what needed to be done.

I hesitated for a few seconds and then turned to where Kasumi was barely keeping the door open. The four of us rushed through and the door sealed behind us, giving us only one option. I radioed Garrus and asked him where he was, and he said that he'd run into a dead end on his end, he'd have to double back to find another way. I pulled out my shotgun and told him to head back to the shuttle and come to the coordinates I sent him, which was where there was enough space to land the shuttle near just outside Rana's office setup. With that I charged down with the rest of my team and found Jedore.

She would have been simple enough to take down, unfortunately she had backup in the form of an YMIR heavy mech, and eight tanks that were conveniently filled with krogan in armour and armed with shotguns. Thankfully for us she knew that the krogan were as likely to shoot her as shoot us, so she only released one at a time. I told the others to deal with the mech, Kasumi and Miranda reaching for their SMGs and activating their omni-tools. I gripped my shotgun tightly and clapped my hands, charging straight into Jedore. Lucky for me she wasn't expecting that, so the biotic explosion as I hit her sent her to the ground. I didn't give her time to get up, I just unloaded my shotgun rapid-fire into her shields. My initial charge had loosened her grip on the rocket launcher she had been holding, and when her shields failed she was already reaching for a sidearm. I stomped my foot hard on her wrist, hearing the satisfying snap of bones and her grunt of pain. I had to give her that much, she knew she was going to die and just looked at me with as much disdain as she could muster with a broken wrist. I aimed the shotgun again and pulled the trigger, not even looking down at the wound as I felt blood splatter along my cheek.

I turned around to see a krogan charging at me, so I charged right back at him, firing my shotgun into his helmet right as I came out, splattering my armour with orange blood. I heard and felt the warmth of an explosion behind me and turned around, hoping to see the smoking remains of the mech. What I found instead was that the mech was still standing, though consumed in a blazing white-hot fire that was quickly burning itself out. My visor told me that the shields were down, so I swapped my shotgun for my pistol and aimed for the head. I learned that my visor also had a handy function of helping my aim, giving me a virtual line from the end of the barrel to the target. I used this to carefully aim a shot to the side of its head while the rest of my team took cover as it let loose on the auto-cannon. As I squeezed the trigger and the round impacted against the mech's head it diverted its attention to me as the new threat, the spray of large calibre bullets moving in my direction. Luckily the four of us were split up, so we could each distract the mech in turn and let another take it down.

Once it was down, we all heard the alarms going off in the lab. We ran back up the stairs, Garrus coming in over the radio saying that his team had made it to the shuttle and was on the way. EDI said that with Jedore dead, she gained limited access to the systems in the lab, and had worked as quickly as she could to override the last kill command routine. However, Okeer's lab had been flooded with toxins, and the old krogan was dying. EDI opened the door and we saw the old one lying on the floor. We ran over to him, only to have him move his eyes to me and try and raise his hand, before exhaling on last time and closing his eyes. We heard his voice, but it wasn't coming from him. I looked up to see he had left a message for me. He said that he didn't know what the Collectors wanted with humans, and he was thankful that I'd given him time. Everything he had left was in his prototype. One perfect legacy in a perfect soldier, one perfect grunt.

We all looked over at the tank and the giant krogan within it. Kasumi raised and eyebrow and said that if Okeer was willing to die for this, it must be valuable. Zaeed just said a bullet to the brain would save us a lot of headaches. I looked at him, weighing up the potential disaster if this krogan decided to go crazy on the ship with the serious boon to the team if it decided to work with us. I decided to take him aboard the _Normandy_ and decide later, because he'd just die if we left him here on his batteries. I said we could use another heavy hitter, especially a perfect krogan. Kasumi replied that there was nothing wrong with a heavy hitter, but she usually drew the line at raging monster. I radioed Garrus, who told me he was just setting down at the coordinates I'd given him. I asked him if there was room in the shuttle for a fish tank, and he wondered aloud if I'd gone crazy. I told him I wasn't crazy, we just had a package to deliver to the _Normandy_, and he's a big one.

Garrus said he needed to see this, and then the rest of my current team filed in from the direction of Rana's office. Jacob and Garrus did a double take at seeing the krogan in the tank. Mordin looked at it for a second, did a little scan with his omni-tool and said in his fast-paced way that it was one of the most impressive specimens he had ever seen. It took all of us, but eventually we found a solution to get the tank into the shuttle along with the rest of us as we headed back to the ship. I radioed Joker, telling him to get a mass effect lifter ready in the garage.

We got to the loading bay to find one ready and waiting for us, two crewmen operating it. Once we were out of the way, I told them to take it out and put it in the port cargo hold for now. Right now I needed to take a shower, because I was covered in at least 4 species of blood, at least one of which did not agree with my biology and another which I desperately wanted off me for other reasons. I got up to my cabin, stripped off my armour and had a decent shower, and went down to the briefing room to debrief the squad.

I got there to find Miranda and Jacob already present, discussing our newest acquisition in the cargo hold. Miranda seemed to be of the opinion that it would be great to study, but had serious concerns for the safety of the ship and the crew if we woke it. Jacob just rolled his eyes and said she'd already said that, multiple times. She turned to me, hoping I'd side with her logic. She argued that this particular krogan was created, and educated, by a madman, and we knew absolutely nothing about it, unlike its' late maker. I commented on how everyone seemed to be worked up about the new paperweight, and that not knowing anything was the fun part. Miranda could obviously see I was thinking about waking it, so she simply said that krogan were extremely good at close quarters, so I should think carefully about waking it in a confined space. I replied that the cargo hold was as good a place as any until I decided what to do with it. The rest of the debrief was fairly regular, Garrus informing me of the actions his team took that weren't immediately obvious. I dismissed them all after that, deciding that I needed to eat something.

I went down to the mess to find Gardner whipping up a chef's surprise. A week ago, such a meal would have drawn the disdain of every being on the ship. Now though, it was an exciting culinary adventure, especially since Zaeed had lent Gardner a few of his personal recipes. As I was waiting, Jacob came down and sat next to me. We were next to each other, but there was enough space around to have a semi-private conversation. I asked him what he really thought of the mission so far, tried to get him to relax a little. Chakwas once said that Anderson was a good captain because he knew when to crack the whip, but also when to let things slide. If I become half the captain he was, I'll consider my life well lived. Jacob looked me in the eye and said that he was glad we were getting things done, because he wasn't looking forward to the debrief if it all went to hell. I asked him what he'd done after leaving the Alliance, and he said that he'd had his own mission, after being put on leave. It didn't quite compare to driving a Mako through a Mass Relay or killing a Reaper, but it was good. Miranda had helped with that mission, and Cerberus had treated it like an audition. The Alliance had sidelined him after Eden Prime, and by that time Jacob was fed up with the bureaucracy. Sure, he had problems with the way they did things sometimes, but they took down the bad guys when no-one else would. As long as Cerberus kept that line, he was fine with that.

I told him that I admired him for taking a stand like that. It's hard to go up against something you believe in when it lets you down. Jacob said that after the Alliance covered up my death, he'd had it with them. Apparently, the general public wasn't aware that I had died for a long time. After my death, I was used for recruitment ads before my position on the Reapers made it uncomfortable for the brass, so they replaced me with a composite. I told him it was nice to hear that people were still thinking of me. At this point he got very quiet, and it was hard to tell if he was blushing because of his skin colour, but it seemed like that was what he was doing. He said something about talking again later, and I jokingly replied he couldn't get rid of me that easily. If anything, it seemed to make him move faster to get away from me.

I had a little chuckle at this conversation after he was gone, not realising how my words had affected him. I honestly didn't think about it while I was talking, but afterwards it must have seemed like I was flirting with him. Don't get me wrong, I think Jacob is in pretty good shape for anyone, but I'd never really thought about men that way. Sure, in my younger days I tried it with both men and women, but I'd never really felt a connection with anyone. Not until I met Liara. She'd just touched something inside me that I'd never experienced before, and I could tell she hadn't either.

That night we had was so much more than just physical touching. Honestly, we didn't do much more than just kiss and stroke each other's bodies. I don't know if Liara is representative of asari in general, but she had the softest, most sensual skin I'd ever felt on anyone. That night was so much more though, because we connected on a level so much deeper than just touching and intimacy as humans understand it. I have never loved anyone as much as I love Liara, because we touched each other's souls that night, and for a single perfect moment, we were a single being, knowing each other on a level I'd never imagined possible. I couldn't think of loving anyone else now. I'd have to remember to talk to Jacob later to make sure he understood where I stand with him.

When the food arrived it was spectacular. Now I knew that on the old _Normandy_ there were set meal times for every shift, but it was much more relaxed here. Everyone knew when the meals would be because Gardner kept to a schedule, but people were free to come and go as they pleased as long as it didn't interfere with their duties. In truth, I kind of liked this system better than the Alliance. I know that when I signed up I was craving some stability, having scraped through my psych eval after years of therapy, but once I made officer and graduated from the N7 program, I began to feel there should be more flexibility in certain areas. Luckily several of my COs agreed and ran looser, more relaxed ships when they could.

Once I was done, I decided to have another chat with Miranda. She was still a person, and there was a reason that the crew of the old _Normandy_ didn't try and shoot me when I mutinied with the ship. I cared about my crew, all of them, and getting to know them, getting their loyalty, was part of that. I had my doubts she would ever put me before Cerberus if it came to that, but I had to try. The door opened and she was sitting at her desk once again, finishing a report no doubt and telling the Illusive Man all about my little movie night. I asked her if she had a minute to talk and she said she did. I sat down as she said that this mission had gone well so far, one of the best Cerberus operations she'd ever been a part of. If there was one thing she could have said to make me thankful for eating before talking to her; that was it, because otherwise I would have lost my appetite.

I forced myself to be calm as I replied that I was not part of Cerberus, and this wasn't a Cerberus operation. She replied with an icy voice that she reported directly to the Illusive Man, and that she was here because he wanted her to be. I could almost hear the implied threat that she could go over my head. She said that Cerberus had given me a second chance, and maybe I should give them one. I thought about it for a few seconds, thinking that if I wanted to get Miranda on my side eventually, knowing why she was loyal to the Illusive Man was a good first step, so I asked her. She looked down for a second, and when she looked up she asked if I remembered our last conversation about how her father had her genetically modified.

I nodded and she continued that it was a lot more extensive than most people could imagine. She said that her father didn't just modify her, he created her. All through her childhood he controlled everything about her, thinking about her more as a dynasty than a daughter. She said that when she was old and brave enough, she ran away, knowing that Cerberus would protect her. I told her she didn't seem like the type who needed protecting from anyone, and she replied that running away wasn't a simple matter. Her father had invested a great deal in her, and he would pursue her relentlessly unless Cerberus hid her. I asked her about her father, not sure what to expect. She didn't give me a name, just that he was an extremely wealthy businessman, and used to donate heavily to Cerberus before Miranda joined them. She said that was where she first learned about Cerberus.

I asked her what her mother thought about all of this, and she replied that she didn't have one. Her DNA had been sourced mostly from her father, with his Y chromosome altered with desirable traits from various sources. I didn't know what was more disturbing about that scenario, being a girl growing up without a mother, or knowing that you're almost a clone of your father. I agreed with her as she said this was just another display of his arrogance and egomaniacal mind frame, just one more reason to get away from him.

I said that I imagined Cerberus approved of her enhanced abilities, and she agreed with a nod of her head. She said that Cerberus and the Illusive Man were all about looking at the big picture, doing things for the greater good, and she felt that she had a purpose with them. I bit back the retort that some of the greatest horrors in mankind's brutal history were done in the name of the greater good, because this wasn't the time for that argument. Instead I focused on her tone of voice, and said that she spoke about herself like she was just a tool to be used, and she was better than that. She replied that she liked to know her place in the world, it helped her find meaning in her creation. She said it was easy for me to say she was better than that. She compared the two of us, saying we were both engineered for greatness. But where I was great before I was rebuilt, she was only great because of it. I told her that wasn't true, that a person was defined by their spirit and personality, by the things they do, not by the way they were made. She looked at me with a hint of a tear in her eye and said that was kind of me to say. She wasn't sure if she believed it, but she thanked me. I got the idea that she wanted me to leave and have some privacy, so I left without another word.

As I walked into the elevator I thought again about the krogan down in the hold. I thought about waking him, but I wasn't stupid. I remembered that there were times I had to pull my gun on Wrex just to get his attention, so I pressed the button for Deck Two first. I walked over to the armoury to see Jacob tinkering with an SMG. When he saw me I could see his mind working overtime, and I held up a hand to stop him. I told him straight up that the flirting downstairs had been completely unintentional. I told him in no uncertain terms that while I valued him as a crewmate, I did not have and would never develop feelings for him. That seemed to stump him for a second, and then he apologised for overreacting. He qualified that with stories of how he'd had some downright bizarre relationships in the past, and he just wanted to avoid another one, what with the fate of the galaxy potentially hanging in the balance and all. I agreed with him and crossed over to the weapon locker and pulled out my Phalanx. Jacob looked at me and wondered what I was doing, since it was common safety practice to only carry weapons onboard only when strictly necessary. I told him that I'd made a decision about our guest in the tank downstairs. He nodded, looking at the pistol as if suddenly I was crazy not to take something with more power. He was professional enough not to say I was insane, at least to my face, and just said to be careful.

I went down to the engineering deck where the cargo holds were and went over to Zaeed's hold on the starboard side. I told him I was going to wake the krogan, and that if he heard anything like the sound of a tiny human being crushed under a krogan foot, make sure I looked pretty for the second funeral. He laughed at my little joke, and said that he'd keep an ear out. I walked over to the port cargo hold and entered, seeing that the crew had set him up and connected the tank to the ship's power grid. EDI didn't have a hologram projector in here, so she just came over the ship's speakers. She said that the krogan inside was stable, and the tank systems had been seamlessly integrated with the ship. The nutrients inside the tank would keep the specimen going for a year, barring ship-wide power failure.

I looked at the giant krogan again, he seemed to be even bigger on the ship. His eyes were open, a piecing icy blue with the reptilian pupil dividing the iris, staring out into infinity with a face expressionless as a slab of granite. It was a mildly disturbing image, seeing a perfect krogan without any signs of life. I asked EDI if he was aware of where he was. She said it was unlikely given she could only detect minimal cognition occurring, comparing it to a deep sleep. I asked what in hindsight was a stupid question – was he dangerous. EDI managed to get a good amount of disdain into her voice as she told me it was a krogan. On the subject of if he was actively hostile, she couldn't say. Analysis of the data on Okeer's implant technique suggested that only information, not methods of thinking, could be transferred. Other than that, she had no information. I asked her if she detected anything odd about him, and she said what Okeer had, he was perfect. He had perfectly formed primary, secondary and tertiary organs where applicable, with the genetic markers of the genophage the only defect. She couldn't judge mental functioning since his was minimal at the moment and there was no indication that Okeer had ever woken him.

I told her to open the tank, and she said Cerberus had clear protocol regarding untested alien technology. I told her that I would not be second-guessed on my ship, by my ship, and she backed down quickly, highlighting a holographic interface on the tank. She said that the decision, and the consequences, were now my own. I wasn't sure if she was trying to sound wise, or hoped that I'd somehow get hurt for ignoring her advice. I pressed the button, wondering how this would all happen. First, the tank angled from its incline to totally vertical, the liquid draining somewhere. Once all the liquid was gone the front glass panel opened outwards, the krogan within falling to its knees, but waking up quickly enough to use its hands to steady itself.

It coughed up some of the liquid and then was still on the floor for about 30 seconds, breathing and blinking. Then it looked up and saw me, before shouting at me and charging. I had just enough time to brace myself so he wouldn't break anything when he impacted with me. I had obviously underestimated how much force he could generate in only a few steps, because he kept right on moving until he slammed my back painfully into the bulkhead. He looked at my face with his eyes, as if he was searching for some recognition in his mind. After a few seconds he blurted out 'human, female' and told me before he killed me, he needed a name. I wasn't a stranger to the whole 'I want to know your name before I kill you speech' but something struck me as a little odd. I tried to push against the arm to no effect, I had no leverage and he was vastly stronger than I was.

I looked him right in the eye and told him I was Commander Shepard, hoping he wouldn't notice as my right hand reached towards the gun I had on my waist. He told me he didn't want my name, he wanted his. He said the implants had taught and trained him, but Okeer couldn't implant a connection. His words were hollow, they meant nothing to him. He recited some of the last words Okeer had said - warlord, legacy, grunt. He said the last one a few times, deciding that it was good enough. He reintroduced himself as Grunt, and told me to prove my strength and try to kill him.

I couldn't figure this guy out, first he wants to kill me, now he wants me to kill him. I asked him why he wanted to die and he looked confused. He said he was meant to fight and reveal the strongest, that the tank had never asked him what he wanted. Okeer's imprint failed to make a connection, that he felt nothing for Okeer's clan or enemies. He looked back at me and said that without a reason of his own, one fight was as good as any other, and I happened to be at the top of the list by virtue of being the first one he saw. I looked him hard in his blue eyes and decided that if he wanted a reason, I'd give him one. I told him that my command would be his reason. He looked at me again, intrigued by this new side I had revealed. He said my voice was forceful, commanding his allegiance like I had earned it from others. I told him that my enemies threatened galaxies, and all aboard this ship earned their place in the fight. He looked away in thought, and then said that was acceptable, that he'd fight for me.

I told him I was glad he was reason, and he looked puzzled at my confidence. I twitched my eyes downwards and his followed to find the muzzle of my pistol pressing into a weak point of his armour. He actually smiled as he let me go and took a few steps back. He said that when he found a clan, what he wanted, he'd be glad to pit them against me. He had a little trouble with getting out the word want, like it was an entirely new concept for him, and it was highly likely that it was. I asked him where he'd like to stay while he was on the ship, and he looked around, saying this hold was good enough for him. I said I'd come back later as I left, going back up to the combat deck. I saw Zaeed look in my direction as the door opened, nodding as I was the one exiting and then going back to whatever it was he was doing.

When I opened the door to the vista of the galaxy map, Kelly walked over, something obviously on her mind. She asked me if it was true there was a baby krogan in a pod in the cargo hold. I told her that it wasn't in the pod anymore, and that it wasn't a baby, but a fully grown super-soldier who called himself Grunt. She said to be very careful, her psych reports were for Okeer, and that we didn't know anything about how Grunt thought. I told her to just observe him for now, and try and avoid showing weakness if she came into contact with him. She then told me that there were two new emails on my terminal for my perusal, and Joker wanted to put in a new destination before he went off duty. I went over to the galaxy map, pulling up the last dossier on my file that I hadn't recruited yet, Jack. Again, there was no picture and very little biographical information, but to make up for it there was a very, very long list of crimes, ranging from theft, hijacking and vandalism to piracy, extortion and straight up murder. The small prelim psych eval said that Jack was extremely likely to be psychopathic, and was to be treated with utmost caution. Jack was being held in cryogenic isolation on the prison ship Purgatory, which was currently in the Hourglass Nebula. I set the course into the galaxy map and told Joker to take us out of orbit. I walked away from the galactic hologram to look at the two emails waiting for me.

One was from Talitha, a girl who'd been taken as a slave on Mindoir in the same raid that killed my parents. She'd been rescued, but had found a gun and was threatening to hurt herself. I had eventually talked her down into taking a sedative, and she was taken into proper care. Her email said she was getting better, and that actually made me tear up. I smiled as I finished reading it and looked at the next one, from no less that the Consort, Sha'ira. She said that the news of my death had saddened her greatly, partly because she feared her words had not been enough to help me. She then had written more words of wisdom for me, saying that my last battle had relied on my own strength, but the coming storm would require the strength of my allies beside me if I were to weather it. I closed the message and the terminal, deep in thought. Sha'ira had a powerful gift of being able to see beyond the mundane and speak wisdom that I needed to hear, so to ignore this new message would be foolish indeed.

I finished off by returning the pistol and taking out the Mattock, once again taking Garrus down to the garage to have him help me with target practice. This time though, instead of the standard bullseye targets, he'd had EDI help him make some more lifelike targets. He said I'd come pretty far now, and though having the targeting software in my visor would definitely help, I'd want to practice without it until I was good enough. We'd both been in enough battles to know that sometimes, armour power failure happened, leaving you with nothing more than heavy ceramic plates between you and bullets, and only your eyes to target. This time I managed a two hour marathon of shooting, and I was getting pretty good if I did say so myself. I managed to get my grouping down to eight centimetres now that I had more lifelike targets to aim at, and I aimed for vital areas and some areas people overlook as vital in battle. I've had enough combat experience to know that shooting a leg or arm can have huge effects on a soldier's combat effectiveness. Unfortunately that experience came from both sides of the equation, having once had an enemy shoot clean through my left shoulder.

By the time I was out of target practice we were already docking with a fuel depot in the Osun system, EDI informing me that the _Normandy_ had been running low on anti-protons for the conventional drives. She said that once we had refuelled, we would be rendezvousing with the _Purgatory_ in about an hour. I thanked her, not realising then the trouble I was going to get into in about ninety minutes.

Hey Everyone, I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I'd really appreciate the feedback, so please leave comments.


	10. From Bad to Worse to Hell

Chapter 9 – From Bad to Worse to Hell

April 16, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Osun System, Hourglass Nebula

Since both the Imir system and the Osun system had Mass Relays in them, it didn't take long for Joker to travel between them once the _Normandy's_ tanks of anti-protons were full. It seemed like the hour just flew by and we were moving towards one of the docks of the _Purgatory_. The ship was massive, even bigger than an Everest-class dreadnought, though most of it was living space now, being a converted ark ship. Once Joker had dealt with the requisite approach procedures, I radioed Garrus and Kasumi and asked them if they wanted to join me in a prisoner pickup. Kasumi asked for the details, and I told her there were no pictures, just long list of crimes. She said that sounded kind of hot, so she was in.

My reason for only taking two team-mates was the thought that this was just a simple prisoner pickup, it shouldn't be any more difficult than a trip to the Citadel. Garrus just laughed at that and asked me when was the last time that I ever did anything that didn't end up with someone shooting at me. I had to agree with him, so I told both of them that weapons would probably be a good idea. I then went up to my cabin to see if my armour was clean yet. The auto-cleaner beeped as I came in, and I put on my still-warm armour. I had to admit; I liked it better when it was warm. I headed down to the armoury and pulled out my weapons, and was soon joined by Garrus and Kasumi. The three of us walked to the airlock just as Joker brought the _Normandy_ to a perfect dock with the _Purgatory_.

After the standard pressurisation and decon routines, we stepped out of the airlock and onto the deck of the larger ship. We followed a corridor until we came to a room with several armed Blue Suns, two on the floor and two on the catwalks above. None of them had weapons in hand, but they all had them on the magnetic holsters on their armour. One particularly forward turian held up a hand to stop us. He said that our package was being prepped, and that we'd have to relinquish our weapons to continue inside the cellblocks, since it was a high security area. I pulled out my pistol and told him some things: first, that he could have my weapon when he pried it out of my undead hands, but I'd considered his position and I'd relinquish one bullet, where would he like it?

The door behind the guards opened and another turian stepped through, with tech-enhanced shields and no helmet, giving the three of us a very hard stare. His face was entirely bare of any sort of facial tattoos and markings. I remembered a conversation I once had with Garrus about the facial tattoos most turians sported. He said that in the early days of turian expansion, some of the outlying colonies began civil war with each other. Turians would tattoo their faces with unique designs to mark which colony they came from. Even after the Hierarchy stepped in and crushed everyone that was left once most of the real fighting was over, most turians still bore the tattoos of their home colony; even Palaven turians had a design. He also said that 'bareface' was a slang slur, one used for someone was untrustworthy, or a politician, which was pretty much the same thing. I had a flashback to Saren, and I remembered that his face too was devoid of any sort of tattoo.

This all rushed through my mind as I looked at the turian who had just entered the room, the one who seemed to have an aura of command. He told his men to stand down, and introduced himself as Warden Kuril. He said that our weapons would be returned to us on the way out, and that this was standard procedure for any prison. I didn't particularly feel like telling him I'd helped kill his boss recently and trusted Blue Suns about as far as I could kick them, so I just repeated that I wouldn't be giving up my weapons. He gave me more of his hard stare, and then backed down, saying that they were more than capable of handling three armed guests.

His demeanour seemed to change to one slightly less tense then, telling the three of us to follow him to outprocessing, where Jack was being taken out of cryo. The three of us followed him into a tunnel overlooking one of the cellblocks, giant arms moving individual cells around. Kuril said that each cell was a self-contained unit, and that he helped keep order by flushing a few out of the airlocks as an example. He said that there was no escape from here, and that all of the prisoners knew it. As we walked along he asked if there were any questions we had.

I only had one question for him; I wanted to know more about Jack. He actually stopped and turned around, a look of shock on his face. He seemed weirded out that I hadn't been informed more about Jack. He said Jack was the meanest ball of violence and hate he'd ever seen, and more powerful, crazy and dangerous than any one being he'd ever met. He said he'd seen extremes of one or the other, but Jack combined them all and took them to a whole new level, and that I'd see soon enough. We kept walking, and I noticed a fight between two prisoners start down below. The warden noticed this as well, and said that _Purgatory_ housed some of the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy, and that they were well equipped to deal with them. I looked down and saw that the two fighting inmates were now contained in their own little mass effect bubbles and had been forcibly separated.

We kept walking until we came to an intersection. He pointed down the left fork, and said that outprocessing was down the hall past the interrogation and supermax wings. He was going to go to his office and check that the funds from Cerberus had cleared for Jack's payment. He then said that he'd see me later, but there was a hint of something in his voice that I really didn't like- something that made me glad that I had insisted on having my shotgun.

We walked along the passageway, hearing the steadily growing sounds of someone obviously being beaten. The passage turned to the right and we came to the 'interrogation' wing. By the nearest cell there was an armoured turian looking in at a fellow guard pistol-whipping a human prisoner, the man in the orange jumpsuit giving out a fresh scream each time the pistol hit him. The one in the cell was working pretty hard at it, and wasn't showing any signs of slowing down soon. I walked up and looked on, slightly sickened by the nonchalant nature of it all, like it was just part of life here. I asked the one standing in the passageway if this was necessary, and he said this was only a massage compared to what the man's victims had gone through.

I forcefully told him I wanted him to stop. He turned his head towards me and I could almost see the incredulous expression through his opaque faceplate. He said that we were in a high security area; guards, guns and cameras everywhere, and I had the gall to threaten him? I just replied with a smug expression that all of that wouldn't be fast enough to save him from me, and that I wasn't going to ask again. He just stared at me, weighing how much he was willing to gamble on my not shooting him. Then he turned to his compatriot in the cell and told him to stop, for now. The turian inside looked out and saw the three of us standing there. He then stood up and walked to a corner, leaving his recent victim to lie on the floor, bleeding. I gave the guard outside one last hard stare, before continuing down the hall.

We were just about to pass into the supermax wing when the prisoner in the last cell called out to us. He asked if we were buying prisoners, could we buy him as well? Garrus turned to me and said we were here for Jack, not anyone else. The prisoner must have heard him, because he backed a step away from the glass and told us to forget it, he didn't want to be anywhere near Jack. I felt like asking him about the fact that the prisoners here were for sale, but I had more pressing matters. We walked on through the supermax wing, a dark and depressing place, and came to another intersection. The left section went into a large room that had 'Outprocessing' painted on the wall.

We followed the left passage, coming into a room filled with metal desks. There was a single tech working at a terminal near the door, who told us to go through the door at the far end of the room. We went to the door and opened it, only to be greeted by the sight of an empty cell. Kuril's voice came over the speakers, saying that he was sorry, but I was more valuable as a prisoner than a customer. His voice was very calm as he told us to drop our weapons, proceed into the cell and no harm would come to us; like he thought that the idea of our resisting was laughable and outrageous. I just turned around, grabbed my shotgun from my back, whilst Garrus and Kasumi likewise pulled their weapons. I called out that nobody stabs me in the back, and that I was going to send him to hell myself.

Kuril then yelled into the microphone, telling the Blue Suns to activate the ship's systems and subdue me. The tech at the far end of the room pulled out a pistol and began firing, but only got off two shots before Garrus put him down. Before we could get far the nearby guards began swarming into the room, batarians and turians backed up by the dog-like FENRIS mechs. Kasumi's shields obviously weren't up to an assault of that magnitude, because her shields failed and a shot managed to hit her in the arm, sending her to the floor, luckily behind cover. I jumped over to her and activated my omni-tool, sending an application of medi-gel from the tank in my armour to her wound. She immediately looked less pained, but I pressed on her good arm, giving her the message to stay down and still while Garrus and I took care of things. She nodded and I gripped my shotgun in two hands again, looking at the IFF scanner on my visor. I jumped up long enough to take out a turian who was advancing on Garrus, while he shot a batarian in the face.

Once the room was clear I held out my hand to Kasumi, who took it. I looked at her wound, which now had a blue-green glaze over it from the medi-gel. She said she'd been shot before, but it had been a while and she'd forgotten how much it hurt. I asked her if she was ok to fight and she said she was fine, bringing up her pistol as proof. The three of us started moving back towards the passageway, while I radioed EDI to get me Jack's location. We got to the passageway and had to duck into cover as there were more mercs coming from the fork that we didn't take before. As I got off a pistol shot into a human who was advancing on us, EDI came back over the radio. She said that she'd hacked into the systems and gotten a map for us. I pulled up the map on my omni-tool and she highlighted a room down the corridor the mercs were coming from. I closed the map and turned around again to see Kasumi fire a shot into a batarian's thigh. I finished him off with a shot to the forehead, right between the upper set of eyes.

Since he was the last one, I motioned for my team to follow me down the corridor. They both nodded and fell into step. We followed the curve until we came into a small room, which was overlooking a larger one. The tech inside started shooting at us in desperation, his shots ricocheting harmlessly off my biotic barrier. I didn't even need to bother aiming as I pulled out my shotgun and pulled the trigger, not even caring that I didn't give him a chance to surrender. In another lifetime maybe I would have, but things were different now, I was different. Once he was down, his blood starting to pool on the floor, we went over to the security console overlooking the room below. I got a good look and saw four YMIR mechs down there, all powered down for the moment. The console had a little screen up and I read it, learning that this was a cryogenic isolation cell, and that the current occupant was none other than the infamous Jack. I looked at the vitals and they were all good, she had been prepared for defrosting and was just awaiting the final step. I looked at the console, a fairly high-end one, and saw that the last activation step required a unique alpha-numeric code, the kind of code that would be impossible to produce on the fly like I needed. I did see another option, which was to hack the console and release the security controls. Unfortunately, this console was networked into the entire ship security grid. If I hacked this one, then all the cells would open and this ship would descend into all-out war between the guards and the inmates.

I stood in thought for a second, wondering if this was the right thing to do, and then I remembered how the Warden had just tried to sell me into slavery. There were a lot of things I was prepared to tolerate, since the Terminus was fairly lawless and I was just one person, but slavery wasn't one of them. I didn't survive the raid on Mindoir, join the Alliance and participate in the Theshaca raids just to let slavers get away with it. I turned to Garrus and Kasumi and warned them that things were about to go to hell. They both just nodded and adjusted the grip on their weapons, as I sliced in a few code sequences on the console.

I was rewarded by the giant robotic arm descending and pulling up the cell that Jack was held in. There was a moment where the cold gases obscured her, and then the YMIR mechs activated. Once the gases cleared the three of us got our first look at the infamous Jack, and it was nothing like any of us expected. Instead of Jack being the gigantic muscled man that I had expected, Jack was just a skinny woman. Hair shaven ridiculously short, skin covered in tattoos, wearing long pants but what looked like straps for a top, I was a little jealous because her breasts were those incredibly rare ones that didn't need any kind of support. She opened her eyes and twitched her hand as she woke up, and then switched from just woken to full battle mode.

She pulled off the metal restraints that held her and rushed at the heavy mechs at the end of the room, her entire body glowing bright purple as her biotics kicked in. I'm a biotic, and because of that I'm more in tune to feeling mass effect changes in the immediate vicinity. The only thing that I could compare to feeling Jack literally punch her way through a mech, shields and all, was accidentally standing next to a ship's drive core when it jumped to FTL. As I looked down at the carnage this woman wreaked below, I couldn't help but feel in awe, not just at her power but also at the animalistic grace with which she moved.

By the time she'd torn the second mech in half with her biotics, the other two were already at full speed on their auto-cannons. She just jumped out of the way of the line of hot bullets, using biotics to help lift her onto the shoulder of one of the mechs. Since the targeting and recognition software didn't have a high sensitivity for synthetic signatures, the other mech tore its companion to pieces as Jack rode on its shoulders. Once it was down, Jack put on a display of parkour and jumped from the fallen mechs to the floors and walls, each time staying ahead of the spray of the auto-cannon. Her body then was covered in biotic purple as she launched herself at the final mech's head, torpedoing right through it. Once it was down she looked around and decided to punch her way through the wall. The ship obviously didn't appreciate whatever she hit, because I could hear alarms starting to go off.

The alarms seemed to bust us out of our little trance, and I told the other two the it was time we departed the ship, and following Jack was the only way to catch up to her at this point. We ran down the nearby stairs and into the remains of Jack's cell. We then followed through the hole she had punched through the wall and several things happened. First, the lighting systems failed, prompting the emergency lights to bathe the area in a hellish red hue. I remember feeling it was kind of ironic, purgatory was the last step before hell in some human faiths, and now the _Purgatory_ was descending into hell. Kuril tried his best to restore order to what remained of the ship, shouting all over the ship's PA for the techs to lock it down, authorising lethal force and telling them to recapture Jack, not kill her. As we advanced the computer's voice came through, saying that sectors seven, nine and eleven had lost life support, with no survivors.

We came along a door that Jack had obviously used and found some prisoners who had managed to kill or otherwise subdue some Blue Suns and steal their weapons and turned them on their former guards. They were ridiculously outnumbered, outgunned and outclassed, but I had learned to never underestimate the power of desperation and a lucky shot, an example shown right in front of me as I saw a turian guard take a bullet to the neck and blue blood spray out all over the floor. The prisoner was quickly gunned down, joined quickly by the rest of the prisoners before the mercs turned their guns on us. We took them down as quickly as we could, not wanting Jack to get captured or killed, or the ship to fall apart before we were off it. As we were fighting we heard Kuril's voice again, threatening the prisoners that if they didn't go back to their cells he would open all the airlocks.

As we moved forward through the yards, fighting both mercs and prisoners lucky enough to get weapons, EDI called over the radio saying that Kuril's techs had managed to lockdown the areas behind me, so I'd have to find another way off the ship. I had bigger problems to deal with right then, so I put that problem to the back of my mind. As soon as we had cleared yet another area of mercs, the computer droned that there had been a hull breach in sectors 12, 14 and 30, that the power plant had suffered damage and that core systems failure was imminent. Great, just what I needed right at that moment. We came across the corpse of a turian guard who had obviously been swarmed by prisoners with improvised blades. Garrus took one look at it and said that he didn't agree with everything they did here, but they kept the worst criminals away from innocents. They kept maniacs here, in the best interests of the galaxy.

We kept moving, hearing Kuril shouting over the PA for all the guards to converge on cellblock one. I consulted my map and looked in the direction of Jack's path of destruction and it seemed that they both lined up. We moved up and towards cellblock one, and ran into both some prisoners who had managed to get weapons, and Kuril standing on an elevated platform. He seemed nonchalant as he aimed his Revenant heavy assault rifle one handed at the head of a prisoner stupid enough to poke it out of cover and pulled the trigger, painting blood and brain across the walls. He saw us come and we raced for cover, knowing that rifle was powerful enough to punch even through the toughest shields and armour with only a few shots.

He shouted down at me from his perch, saying that if I'd only cooperated, he could have sold me and lived like a king. He sounded like he was drunk, or at least his voice was strained like he was drunk. He regained a little composure as he said that he could at least recapture Jack, who I couldn't find right now. From my cover I shouted back at Kuril that he was nothing but a two-bit slaver, and I wasn't going to stand for it. He retorted that he did the hard things that civil governments were unwilling to do. My visor lit up as more Blue Suns started to converge in cellblock one, and Kuril pressed a button on his omni-tool, opening up the nearby mass effect bubble generators that I'd seen before. Three of then came up and surrounded Kuril in a thick mass effect bubble. I knew that bullets had no chance of penetrating that kind of barrier, but the generators themselves looked frail enough to destroy. Unfortunately, there was a distraction in the form of the Blue Suns mercs that we had to contend with.

I looked at Kasumi and she nodded, activating her stealth cloak. Garrus and I shot at the mercs to distract them, whittling down their shields, punching through armour and hitting vital parts until they were down. Luckily for us there was plenty of cover around, as though the guards used this area for live-fire training, so it was easy for us to stay in cover long enough not to get shot. Kasumi worked like magic, moving to the far corner of the room behind cover, and leaning out just long enough to shoot at the generators. Soon, all of the other mercs were dead and it was only Kuril and us.

He was no slouch himself though, there was a reason he only had one weapon on his armour and that was because he knew how to use it. He had a commanding position and view of our little battlefield, and his Revenant sounded out like a cannon as he pounded into our cover. The few times I leaned out to shoot at him he didn't just pepper my barrier, he destroyed it, forcing me to get back into in cover and recharge my barrier. Eventually the three of us managed to get his shields down. He let loose with a violent barrage with his rifle then, pounding the cover Garrus and I were using so hard that shots were starting to penetrate it. We both leapt out and ran separate directions to more cover.

His shots rang out in my direction, allowing Garrus to get in a few shots. Kasumi was the real sneaky star of this battle, using her invisibility cloak to sneak up behind him as the two of us kept his attention on us. As one of my shots ricocheted off his armoured collar he turned and snarled at me, only to have Kasumi reach out from behind him and slit his throat. Just for a second, I saw a look of pure murderous intent in her eyes, before she replaced it with her standard smile. We didn't have a lot of time to celebrate the victory as the ship rocked with a violent explosion, and we saw Jack running along the passageway above us, a passageway that would lead directly to the _Normandy_ if I was correct. Joker shouted at me over the radio, telling me I had to get to the ship now, or he'd leave without me.

I looked at my options, and I didn't have a lot. Time was a huge factor that was currently not in our favour. I looked at the glass in the passageway's windows, my visors not giving me a whole lot of information. I asked Garrus about the windows, and whether he thought they were bulletproof. He gave me an odd look, but he touched a few holographic buttons on his omni-tool and looked up at the glass, before saying that a few decent shots from the Mattock would probably do it. I told him to shoot it out, and then I took a few steps to give myself a better angle for what I was about to do. I steeled myself mentally, because this was highly likely to be extremely exhausting.

As some glass shards fell to the floor I told Garrus and Kasumi to stand next to me. Once they were in position I told them each to get a strong grip on my shoulder. Kasumi raised an eyebrow and Garrus gave a look of confusion as they both wrapped their arms around my shoulders, but it wasn't until I help my arms out from my side that they knew what I was about to do. I heard Garrus start to shout my name, but it was already to late for him to let go. I used my biotic charge to lift the three of us up to the shot out window, the mass effect bubble protecting us from the sharp shards. As soon as the biotic fields exploded away from us I collapsed, because the effort of transporting three people instead of just myself was exhausting. Garrus held my arm too tightly to let me more than slump, and the look on his face was priceless. I doubted before that there was anything that could shock him, but apparently going shotgun on a biotic charge was it. I had to literally pry his talons off my armour before he let go. Kasumi just looked at me and said that was one of the coolest things she had ever done, and then sighed that she wasn't a biotic. The three of us went down the corridor at a brisk jog, Garrus helping me stay upright for the first few steps, because the computer had now given us a 15-minute warning before the ship's core detonated.

We got down the hall and saw the Normandy still docked, with Jack now pacing around in the hallway, mad as hell. She didn't see the batarian coming up behind her, so I did her a favour and put a bullet through his faceplate. She didn't look at him but she did turn around and look at me. She looked at me for a few seconds, curious written all over her face, before I heard her speak for the first time. She asked be brusquely what the hell I wanted. I told her she was welcome for me killing that batarian, and she just said she would have killed him anyway, and asked me again what the hell I wanted.

I told her who I was, and I was surprised at her reaction, because usually my name gets me a lot of places and usually a mix of fear and awe. She didn't even flinch. I told her I was here to get her off this ship, and she bluntly said that there was no way that she was going anywhere with me, especially since I was with Cerberus. I looked out the window at the _Normandy_, clearly seeing the Cerberus logo one the wings of projecting from the nose. This was one of the times that I felt like hating myself for who I was working with, but unfortunately I didn't have the luxury of time nor the virtue of patience today. I told her that being my enemy is always unhealthy, and Kasumi joined in, saying that Jack should take my advice unless she wanted things to go bad for her.

Jack looked at the _Normandy_ and then at me, saying that I turned up in a Cerberus frigate to take her away, did I think she was stupid? Frankly, I thought she was being rather stupid about this. I showed up in the only ship that's liable to escape the coming destruction of the _Purgatory_, I'm offering not ordering, and she's arguing. Garrus interjected that we could always take her unconscious, and Jack just said she'd like to see us try. After seeing her little display, I wasn't willing to fight her, especially since I was still a little woozy from my last exertion. I told him we weren't going to do that, and Jack said that was a good move, but I heard the implied threat behind it.

Jack looked at me a little more curiously, and said that if I really wanted her, I needed to make it worth her while. I asked her what she wanted, and she looked over at the Normandy. She said that she had a past with Cerberus, and that she wanted access to Cerberus databases to figure it out. I personally figured if she wanted to do my job for me, she was welcome to it. I told he she could have all the access I could give her. She pointed at me and threatened that I better be straight up with her. I just nodded in reply, beginning to feel the massive need for food that accompanies heavy use of biotics, and she finally asked me what the hell we were waiting for.

The four of us ran the rest of the way to the airlock, the pressure door slamming behind us and we could hear the sound of the _Normandy_ disengaging from the _Purgatory_ even before the decon and pressurisation. As we came in Joker turned around to look at me, asking me what the hell went so wrong that even in space on a prison, I get shot at and destroy major infrastructure. I just looked at him and told him I had a disagreement with the warden, and that he should have just taken my offer. Joker was about to say something else when Jack emerged from behind Garrus' heavy armour, and for the first time that I've known him, he was lost for words. He just stared; jaw hanging open, until Garrus escorted her to the briefing room. Once he was able to regain control of his jaw, he turned to be and tried several times to start to speak, but he always got stuck on the first word, and just gave up and turned around, somehow still managing to get across his disbelief at my ability to attract sexy women, even after death. I pre-empted him, telling him that I thought he should be careful, since she was more likely to kill him than kiss him. It seemed to kill his smile a little bit, but only a little.

I walked over to the briefing room, to find Miranda already there, giving Jack a disapproving look as she put her boot on the table. As I walked in, Miranda began telling Jack she was welcome to the _Normandy_, that she was second in command, and on this ship, everyone followed orders. Jack just told Miranda to back off, she was here because of her deal with me, not to make friends with Cerberus cheerleaders. I turned to Miranda and told her to give Jack access to the Cerberus files we had on the ship, before telling Jack to let me know what she found. Miranda gave me a look that screamed disagreement, but she nodded. Jack used this opportunity to get in her face, telling her that soon they would all be friends, including every dirty secret Cerberus had. As she walked towards the door, she said that she'd be downstairs, somewhere near the bottom of the ship, something about not liking a lot of traffic. She gave me one last warning to keep people away from her, it would be best for everyone involved. Miranda looked at me and shook her head in disapproval.

I dropped off my weapons at the armoury and my armour back in its locker for the second time today, before heading back downstairs for something to eat. It wasn't mealtime, but I was seriously hungry after that last biotic charge. I had Gardner whip me up some leftovers, a double serving, and then sat down and ate all of it. Once I was done, I decided to go and get to know our newest member a little better. I asked EDI where she had set herself up and she replied that Jack was in the undercroft on the engineering deck.

I went down, surprised that such a place even existed, and found that Jack had found a cot and set it up with some other things in the muted red lighting. She looked up when she heard my footsteps and asked me what I wanted. I replied that I just wanted to get to know her better. Nodding and waving a datapad, she replied she was still getting to know her own story, and she thanked me for getting her the files. I told her I was glad they were helping, and she replied bluntly that she wasn't here to make friends. I needed her to kill; she needed the files, end of story. She pointed at the datapad, saying that Cerberus was into some nasty shit. I didn't need her to tell me that twice, I'd experienced more than my fair share of Cerberus projects. I asked her if she was looking for answers, and she said she was looking for names, dates and places, not answers. She continued that once she found them, she was going to go hunting. The people on her list would pay, their associates, friends and families would pay. She reached for a gun she had nearby, a serious hazard near a drive core, and said that the galaxy was going to be a lot emptier when she was done.

I asked her about the history between her and Cerberus, and she was quite for a little while. She finally said that Cerberus had raised her in a facility somewhere. She'd escaped as a kid, and as long as she'd been running, Cerberus had been chasing. But once she found what she was looking for, the hunters would become the hunted. I asked her why she was so obsessed over this instead of moving on. She looked at me and shouted that she went to sleep with this stuff, she woke up with it tormenting her. Every person she killed, she pretended it was one of the ones who'd done this to her. Even I had to admit the sheer fury in her voice was scary, and reminded me I did not want to be on her bad side.

I looked around the improvised room and asked her if this was what she wanted, because I was sure we could arrange something more adequate for her. She walked to the back of the room and was silhouetted against the red light. She said this place was dark, hard to find and not populated, which spelled safety to her. Without warning she leapt on top of part of the ship that was about hip height. She spread her legs in a squat and told me this ship was a powerhouse, and that I could live like a queen if I went pirate, and she'd be willing to help me if I did. I went along with her, asking if she'd be my first mate. She said she didn't want any official position, she'd just lead the boarding party, and any executions. I asked her why she seemed to enjoy killing so much, and she said that every time someone died and it wasn't her, she figured her survival odds increased, simple as that. I left her to it and went back to the CIC.

I checked my private terminal and found two messages waiting for me. One of them was from Chairman Burns, head of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee for Transhuman Studies. It was a thank-you for saving his life from those terrorists, and that he'd lost some political ground to do it, but he'd gotten the L2s the reparations they deserved. He didn't know if he could help again, but he owed me his life, so all I had to do was ask. It was good to know that sometimes the things I did came to a happy conclusion. The other email was from Kate Bowman, one of the lucky ones who managed to survive Balak's assault on X57 and his attempt to slam it into Terra Nova. It was another thank-you, and she was also glad to hear that I was alive, especially after the sadness it caused on Terra Nova when they found out their saviour had died. I read through it a few times, even though it was short, because it reminded me that even though I fought hard for the right things, I couldn't save everyone, and I couldn't punish everyone either. If I hadn't been so focused on making sure people were safe, then I could have captured Balak and handed him over to the Alliance. Thinking on it though, the Alliance probably just would have traded him over the Hegemony on some bogus political stunt, so I might as well have just killed him, or handed him over to the some interested parties on Terra Nova who would have relished the opportunity to learn more about his organisation.

I closed the emails and tried to set a destination on the galaxy map, but before I could do anything Joker came over the intercom, telling me the Illusive Man was coming through with an urgent call. I walked over to the briefing room, unaware of how this one call would change my second life forever, just like the beacon on Eden Prime had changed my first.


	11. The Edge of the World

Chapter 10 – Edge of the World

April 16, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Iera System, Shadow Sea Cluster

Honestly, some days I just wish I were still dead. I'm sick and tired of being the one person that the entire galaxy pins their hopes on, because I am only one person. When I was chasing Saren, it got so annoying to have to respond to every single call from Admiral Hackett and the Fifth Fleet. But worse than the feeling of being needed by everybody, is the feeling of being not trusted by someone who used to trust me implicitly. It all started with a call from the Illusive Man just after recruiting Jack.

I went into the briefing room and watched as the table descended into the floor and the orange holographic grid rose to the ceiling. The view in front of me changed from the metal wall of the briefing room to whatever star the Illusive Man's station was orbiting. The man himself was in the same chair that he was always in, glass of scotch in one hand, lit cigarette in the other. He dispensed with the small talk, telling me that they'd lost contact with the colony of Horizon only thirty minutes ago, and that if the Collectors weren't there already, they wouldn't be far away. He asked me if Mordin had completed the countermeasure to the seekers yet. I remembered the last attempt I had witnessed, and said that he hadn't so far. He replied emotionlessly that he hoped that Mordin worked well under pressure, and I fervently agreed with that.

He paused to take a drag on his cigarette and blew out the smoke, taking his time to tell me that he had received information that one Chief Williams was on Horizon currently. I definitely perked up at that, excited but also confused. Ash was Alliance through and through, and Horizon was well outside of Alliance space, so there was no good reason for her to be out there. I asked him what his 'information' had told him about Ash being so far from Council space. He said that officially, she was there as part of an Alliance outreach program. But if the Alliance was interested in a colony like Horizon, something was up, and if Chief Williams, one of the heroes of the Alliance, was there as well, then whatever it was, was likely big. I mused over a few different retorts, but he cut them off saying that if I wanted to know more, I should take it up with her. I told him that Ash being on Horizon and the Collectors attacking there was about as far from a coincidence as possible, since she was one of the ones who'd helped me defeat Saren and Sovereign.

The Illusive Man agreed with me, and said that it was no surprise that the Collectors were interested in me, and people who had served with me, especially if they were working with the Reapers. He said it was likely that they were trying to get to me through her- a thought that had already passed through my mind. I decided to notify the Alliance, as I figured I could really use the backup, but he immediately said that was not going to happen. He didn't want the Alliance getting in the way before I finished my investigation. I was less than impressed by this attitude, so in the interest of compromise, he said that once I had the situation under control, he'd call the Alliance himself - anonymously of course. I didn't like it, but he was right, the Alliance would just get in the way for now.

Time was wasting, so I farewelled the Illusive Man, and listened as he added sombrely that this was the most warning they'd ever had, before closing the channel. Before the orange grid was even down, I told Joker to set a course for Horizon, and make it fast. With his assurance that he would make all speed, I walked quickly towards the tech lab next door, seeking my next key player. I walked in and told Mordin that he had until we reached Horizon to have a working countermeasure for the seekers. The one in isolation buzzed and bounced against the glass holding it, while Mordin turned to me and said that he'd just finished it while I was on the _Purgatory_. He led me over to his bench and pulled up a hologram of a device, no bigger than a biotic amp, that he said would be easy to integrate into most armour. I nodded in appreciation of the work he had done, and told him to make nine of them, one for everybody, because I planned to hit the ground running and hit it hard. He said he'd have it all done as quickly as possible. On my way out I hit the intercom for an ETA to Horizon, and Joker said he could have us in orbit in under 45 minutes. I replied that I wanted to be groundside in 40, and then got on the intercom to everyone on the ground team, telling them to get up to the tech lab and bring their gear, because Mordin had a new toy for everyone.

I went up to my cabin to get my armour, halting the cleaning cycle and taking it out after it was dried. I went back down to find Jacob already there, Mordin making some fine adjustments to the device as he inserted it just under his shoulder pad. I handed Mordin the torso section of my armour. He took it and lifted a section just below the shotgun holster, fitting in the device and making some tweaks before putting the piece of my armour back in place. I went to the armoury to check my weapons before heading back to the lab and telling everyone to wait in the briefing room once they were ready. Once the last of them were there, I told them that we were heading to Horizon, and that we knew that we'd be in contact with Collectors once we get there. We had no more intel than that, and EDI brought up the most recent schematics from the extranet on Horizon. We all spoke about likely insertion sites, and we eventually chose one as close to the centre of the colony as possible, whilst still away from buildings that would prevent the shuttle from landing.

Sooner than I wanted, and yet later than I expected, the nine of us were in the shuttle only moments away from landing on Horizon. Once we were out of the shuttle and on the ground, the huge reality of the foe we were about to face hit us all. We could see the Collector cruiser dominating Horizon at the other end of the colony, and the massive swarms of seekers flying through the air like a biblical plague. I turned to Mordin and asked him if he was sure his prototype would protect us from the swarms. He turned to me with a smile and said that it was impossible to be certain, but if the swarms weren't too big, then his device should be able to confuse their sensors, in theory. Garrus said sarcastically that 'in theory' was reassuring. Mordin just turned to him and said it was experimental technology, and the only way to really test it was contact. His smile increased as he said he was looking forward to seeing if we survived.

We moved forward, getting a good look at the area we had put down in, which appeared to be the main northern avenue towards the fields. We could also see that there were a lot of GARDIAN laser towers around the complex. These weren't second-hand either; they were new. I could guess that this was part of the Alliance outreach program I had been told about. The colony was too quiet though, apart from the clicking of the swarms. There were no sounds of the wildlife I'd read about, no sounds of humanity. It was just as unsettling as my memories of Freedom's Progress. We crept cautiously towards a collection of vehicles and crates, and heard a definite increase in the volume of the buzzing as my visor lit up with contacts. We could see a squadron of Collectors coming our way, their weapons looking like nothing I'd ever seen and firing variations on the theme of directed energy rather than solid projectile. Seven of us took cover behind whatever was available, but not Grunt or Jack. Jack just jumped around using her biotic-enhanced parkour and lashed out with a shotgun, whilst Grunt just did what must come naturally to krogan and charged full force into the nearest enemy. He crushed its chest with a punch and stomped on its head once it was down, black blood splattering across his lower half. The rest of us leaned out from cover and let loose with our choice of weapon, biotics or tech attacks, making short work of the rest of the squadron.

We moved out towards the centre of the colony, when Joker came in over the radio. The transmission was weak, and kept breaking up, so I couldn't make out what he was saying. Eventually the signal was cut altogether. Kasumi and Mordin both checked their omni-tools and said that the Collectors had completely blocked communications. I told everyone that we were on our own now, so stay sharp. We turned a corner into a boulevard lined with buildings and came across more Collectors, this time manoeuvring a pod that I had a feeling contained a person. I managed to get the first shot off, peppering the carapace of a Collector with my shotgun. They stopped handling the pod and turned their attention towards us, reinforcements flying down and another old enemy running into the fray: Husks. I'd fought a lot of husks during my search for Saren, but these seemed different. For a start, they didn't do the electrical discharge that the old husks did. They were faster though, and when they got close enough they lashed out with arms and legs, and they were strong. They did have a particular weakness to biotics however, as one throw by Miranda proved. Once they were airborne, something interfered with their legs, and they simply fell apart if they hit any obstacle. I was glad to use the advantage, so the biotics pulled them skywards while those good with longer-range weapons fought the Collectors.

Once the last enemy was down, Jacob looked down at one of the fallen husks. He said it reminded him of the ones on Eden Prime. Garrus commented that he thought the geth got that technology from Sovereign. Zaeed then cursed that the Collectors were working with the Reapers - our mission just became a whole lot more difficult. Zaeed looked down at the Husk and wondered aloud whether the Collectors were just taking humans to make more. Jacob disagreed, as the geth had used Dragon's Teeth to make Husks, and we hadn't seen any evidence of that. Garrus said that was creepy, because it meant that the Husks were brought by the Collectors and they wanted the colonists alive for something else. Miranda said that these husks looked different, more evolved than the ones from her reports on Eden Prime, and Zaeed just said that didn't matter, because they died like everything else. I'd had enough of this little round-table, so I told everyone to move out, we had colonists to save.

We followed the main road to the centre of the colony and came to another complex. This was our first break against the Collectors, because it was the first time we had found some colonists. They were frozen in various poses, like running, fallen over, helping someone up. They didn't move a muscle, and were surrounded by this black and orange aura. Mordin took some readings and said they matched Veetor's from Freedom's Progress, some sort of stasis field to immobilise the colonists. What was really disturbing was the fact that they were still aware, because their eyes followed us. I wasn't sure what to do, since I didn't want to touch the stasis field in case something happened, but I walked in front of one and told him we were there to rescue the colony. His eyes moved a little, but it was impossible to know exactly what he was trying to communicate. I spied that one of the higher buildings had a good view of the area, so I told Garrus to go upstairs and take up a sniper perch while we searched on the ground.

Resting against one of the nearby pods was one of the Collectors' weapons. I picked it up and found that it was lighter than it looked, and it felt almost like it was alive. Mordin swept his omni-tool over it and almost salivated, he said it was a wonder of mechanical and biological fusion. I handled it and gave it a test-fire, a beam of yellow energy scorching into a nearby wall. I had no idea how long the current ammunition would last, or even what ammunition it used, but it would definitely be an advantage to have. I took off the grenade launcher on my back and handed it to Grunt while I got used to putting the new weapon there. I had to grab it out immediately though, because Garrus told us we had incoming just before I heard the report of his sniper rifle as he picked off one of the Collectors.

It didn't take long before this second squadron touched down and began firing at us, using cover and erecting unusual stationary shields we had to shoot through or around. Even though they all looked like they carried the same weapon I was holding, the Collectors seemed to be able to select different firing modes, from energy beam to various single energy projectiles. What was really odd was that in the middle of the battle, one of them began levitating, glowing cracks beginning to from in the carapace and eyes beginning to glow bright yellow. This enhanced Collector seemed to harness a biotic ability that his fellows did not possess, forsaking the weapon for throwing warp fields and singularities. The cracks began to spout bursts of energy, like fire escaping cracks in flowing magma. He was the first Collector I heard speak as well, and his voice seemed to come from everywhere as he told his fellows to capture me alive if possible. I took special interest in the glowing one after that, firing into him until I had apparently destroyed the body. Whatever it was that possessed him called out that my victory meant nothing as the body burnt to ashes in front of me.

Once they were all dead, Garrus rejoined us on the ground, saying that he couldn't see any more squadrons coming my way. He did see something at the other side of the colony, but the only direct way from here was through a building to the west. We walked over to it, seeing a garage bay door. Instead of opening automatically like all the other doors so far, the door remained steadfastly shut, and pressing the open button revealed it was also locked. I was encouraged by this, because these kinds of doors only lock from the inside, which meant there was a good chance someone was still walking around inside. I tore off the cover panel and bypassed the circuits with ease, everyone filing in and closing the door behind us.

There was no point calling out, we'd made enough noise that anyone inside knew we were there. I heard the sound just as my visor picked up the movement, there was someone hiding behind a server. I told him now was a good time to come out. He poked his head out just enough to see that I wasn't a Collector, surprised to see me. He then came out and told me to leave before I lead them to him. I replied that the Collectors knew he was here, and could have come any time they wanted. He rubbed his forehead, taking a minute to take in that the Collectors were real. He said that no one on Horizon really believed they existed, that most of the people here thought that it was just propaganda to keep them in Alliance space. He then started rattling off a list of names, saying they'd gotten them all.

I asked him to tell me everything he could about the attack. He said that they'd lost their comms about two hours ago, and he'd come here to check it out. By the time he heard the screams, the Collectors were already groundside, so he sealed the doors. He became a little breathless as he recounted seeing the swarms of seekers flying around, freezing everyone they touched. Then he said it was all the Alliance's fault, their building the defence towers and stationing an Alliance representative here made them a target. I perked up at the mention of an Alliance rep, thinking he must be talking about Ash, and I asked him what he knew about her. He said he didn't much care for her, but he'd heard she was some type of hero. I asked him what she was doing here, and he said he was told she was here to get the defence towers online, but he suspected there was more to it, spying on the colonists maybe.

I asked him about the towers, since I'd seen a few on my way there. He said they were a 'gift' from the Alliance, high-powered GARDIAN laser towers meant to stop hostile ships landing near the colony. The way he said the word gift was just dripping with his opinion that the towers were really a Trojan horse. He said that the towers needed an underground generator just to power them, and that the targeting matrix could never be calibrated. He said that was just like the Alliance, giving them a giant gun that couldn't shoot straight. He repeated that the towers and Ash made Horizon a target, and that he'd left the Alliance to get away from all the strings and false promises.

As many problems as I had with the Alliance, what they were trying to do here was actually good, and I was a little tired of his attitude. I told him that the Collectors had been targeting remote colonies like Horizon, and that him bitching about the Alliance was way off target. He didn't seem to care about this new fact, he just said that Ash had been up to something, and he wouldn't put it past her to have some sort of involvement with the attack. I just about hit him for talking that way about my friend, but I had bigger problems and other enemies to take out my anger on. I asked him about the towers and how to get them online. He said the main control transmitter was nearby, but the targeting matrix errors meant that it would never shoot straight. I told him I had people who could deal with that, and to let us out and stay here. He didn't argue with that, wishing me luck even though by the tone of his voice his heart wasn't in it.

We went out through the door and it closed quickly behind us. I consulted the map on my omni-tool, picking out the most likely location of the transmitter, which meant that we should take the next right. We turned the corner, only to come face to face with another squadron of Collectors, as well as some Husks. I could see something moving in the background, but it wasn't until most of the Husks were dead that I got my first good look at it. It looked like a Husk, or at least started with one as the base. There was a massive hump on its back, even bigger than Grunt's, and my visor showed it gave off organic and element zero signatures, which meant some form of biotics. And instead of a hand, the right arm looked like a large-bore cannon. I found out how the arm-cannon and the biotic hump combined as it shot out a shockwave. Everyone got into cover except me, so I took an unintended flight as the shockwave hit. So now we had two biotic powerhouses to deal with, since whatever possessed the Collector in the last fight decided to show up again.

Once the enemies were down, and medi-gel applied to the wounds of those who needed it, we made our way to a large barrier, which helpfully pointed out that the GARDIAN control transmitter was on the other side. I can't remember who, but someone commented that we should have found more of the colonists in stasis, and Garrus replied that they must all be on the Collector ship by now, and that we should hurry. I bypassed the locking circuits and lowered the barrier, getting my first look at the transmitter. Since the colonists obviously didn't have a high opinion of the fact the targeting didn't work, they decided to litter the area with empty crates and heavy items that they didn't have anywhere to store. I would come to thank that attitude in mere seconds, as a bunch of normal Husks and two of the biotic shockwave Husks appeared out of nowhere and ran towards us. I told the team to split up, two groups of three heading left and right to flank our enemies while I lead two against the enemies from the front.

It didn't take long for the nine of us to kill them all, and I told the others to secure the area while I went over to the control console. Since there was a transmitter to boost the signal, I tried to hail the _Normandy_. I got Joker's voice on the other end, though the connection was weak. I asked EDI, since she was an AI, if she could fix the towers and get them firing. She replied that fixing the errors in the targeting matrix was simple, but the towers would need time to build up power. She wouldn't be able to mask the power increase, and since the generator appeared to be right underneath me, it would be like telling every Collector in the area where I was. I hated decisions like this, but I told her to do it anyway. I told my team to keep in the formation they were currently in, two teams with a good crossfire of the battlefield while I took my team and headed for another side of the battlefield. EDI wasn't kidding, as not even 30 seconds after I had contacted her the hum of the generator was audible and the first squadron of Collectors was flying in. Garrus, Zaeed and Grunt managed to take out three while they were still in the air, but the time they landed my friend the possessor was back. I decided to refer to him as the Collector-General from then on, to make life easy. Anyway, the Collectors themselves weren't too much of an issue, but the General just possessed a new one each time we destroyed the current avatar. After the first wave was down, EDI came over the line and said that the power level was at 40%.

That seemed to attract even more attention, as the next wave consisted of two squadrons of Collectors, as well as a wave of Husks coming in from seemingly everywhere. It took us a little longer to take them all out this time, and the Husks caused a few injuries, but nothing medi-gel couldn't fix. By the time we had finished with them, EDI had the towers up to full power, and I saw them turn around and start firing at the Collector ship. The thing was massive though, so the most the lasers could do was superficial damage to the parts that looked mechanical. The towers working on the enemy ship was a wonderful sight, but something distracted me. My visor lit up with a contact, just one but it was huge. I looked to the south to see it flying over the wall, and it was like nothing I'd ever seen. It was covered in purple light, and it had four limbs and bright purple eyes. Its beak-like maw was filled with what looked like husk heads, their eyes still glowing. I had no doubt this thing was there to hurt me in some way, but I didn't know how just yet.

I quickly found out, as its eyes began shooting bright purple energy beams at me. I hardly had time to get into cover before my barrier gave out. I shouted at my team to fire at it, and they all responded by attacking the monstrosity. Their shots hit the thick armour plating, and Zaeed and Mordin decided to try and hit it with their plasma grenade and incendiary tech blast, respectively. That seemed only to annoy it, as it crashed to the ground and sent me flying. When I got up it was firing the eyebeams at me again, but my visor told me that it had now erected a biotic barrier. I switched out for my SMG and peppered it, shots from the rest of the team impacting as well. It kept floating around, but it only had eyes for me, so my team could fire at it indiscriminately. I didn't want to let it get too close, so every time the eyebeams stopped I ran to a further piece of cover. It erected the biotic barrier twice more, but eventually we damaged it enough. As if to spite us by not leaving a corpse, it stabbed its front two limbs into its eyes, disintegrating into purple mist and blowing away.

Like a trigger, the moment the thing disintegrated, we heard loud, low noises of mechanical movement. I turned to look at the Collector ship, now pock-marked by hits from the GARDIAN towers. The ship moved several pieces of its structure and then hit the engines, almost knocking me over with the blast wave as it ascended into the air and away into space. I watched it go, unable to do anything else. I told everyone to get ready to leave, there was no reason to stay. They'd gotten most of the colonists, which is what they'd come for. Suddenly the man from before ran out, begging me not to let them get away. I turned to him and asked him what the hell he expected me to do against a ship that size, not bothering to rein in my anger. He just looked at me dumbfounded, in shock and grief, saying they'd taken half the colony, begging me to do something. I told him to blame them, not me; I did everything I could, which was a lot more than most. Miranda behind me said that if it weren't for me, they'd have taken the whole colony.

The man turned around when Miranda mentioned my name, like he recognised it. He thought about it for a few seconds and mused aloud that he did recognise it, wasn't I some type of hero. Then I heard another voice, one I'd wanted to hear ever since waking up. She started with my name, then the fact I was captain of the old _Normandy_, and saviour of the Citadel. She turned to the man, Delan she called him, and said he was in the presence of a god. If it were any other occasion, I probably would have blushed. As it was, after a long day with not one but three engagements in as many different systems, I was too tired to do or say anything. Delan looked at Ash with contempt, saying it was cruel fate that of all the good people on Horizon, she got left behind. He then left in a huff, and if I weren't so tired I probably would have punched him for being so ungrateful.

I turned to get my first real look at Ash. She still wore her hair the same way she used to, long but in a tight bun at the back of her head. She'd obviously gone back to her original armour, Phoenix if I remember correctly. It bore battle scars and bullet impacts, testament of the combat experience she'd obviously gained in the last two years. Maybe the Admiralty had finally decided to remove their heads from their asses and treat her with the respect she deserved as a soldier. I'd like to think it was just the fact she was an excellent Marine, but I knew it was more because she was with me at the Citadel during the final battle, and you couldn't treat someone like that who's still alive the way Jacob said I'd been treated.

She walked towards me and extended a hand, which I took and shook warmly, even though it was an odd gesture. I suppose there really is no right way to greet someone who's been dead until last week. As we shook, she said that everyone thought I was dead. I deflected the question, and instead I put on a forced smile and asked her how she'd been. She couldn't have looked more shocked if I'd slapped her in the face. She let the shock come through into her voice as she asked me how I could act like nothing had happened after being gone for two years? She continued, the hurt in her voice, as she asked me why I didn't try to contact her, and why I left her and everyone else, why I didn't let her know I was alive? I bit back the tears and told her that I'd spent the last two years dead on an operating table, and I'd only rejoined the land of the living last week. Besides, she'd obviously moved on with her career, why would she want to reopen old wounds?

She looked away from me as she agreed she'd moved on, but here I was, bringing her back in. Then she told me that she'd had reports of Cerberus and I. Garrus perked up at this, asking her what she knew. She replied that Alliance intel had a hunch that Cerberus was behind the missing colonies, and that Horizon was next. She went to Anderson, but while he wouldn't talk to her, she still heard the rumour that I was alive and working for Cerberus. I could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn't want to believe the rumours. I didn't have much choice, since rumour was a powerful thing, so I told her what I could: that Cerberus wanted to save the colonies as much as I did, and that I wasn't working for them, just with them. She got in my face and shouted at me, wondering if that's what I believed, or what Cerberus wanted me to believe. Her voice softened as she got closer, almost a whisper as she said she wanted to believe I was alive, she just never expected this, looking behind me at the motley crew I had assembled so far. Well, she wasn't alone in that thought, because I never expected it either. Her anger returned as she looked me in the eye and asked me how I could turn my back on her, on Anderson, on everything I used to believe in.

My anger rose, but I kept calm as I replied that she knew me better than that, and I'd only do this for the right reasons. I told her that she saw it with her own eyes, the Collectors were the ones attacking the colonies, and they were working with the Reapers. Her expression grew pained as she said she'd like to believe me, but she didn't trust Cerberus, and it worried her that I did. She then started talking quickly, asking me what if Cerberus were working with the Collectors and manipulating me. Though I wouldn't put it past the Illusive Man to do something like that, and Miranda to push the button with a smile in the name of human advancement, I knew the Collectors were working with the Reapers, and I had proof, or at least good leads. Garrus chimed in; telling Ash she was so focused on Cerberus she was ignoring the real threat. I continued that she was letting her feeling and their history get in the way of the facts. She retorted that maybe I feel like I owed Cerberus something. She said it didn't matter, she was loyal to the Alliance, and it was in her blood.

She turned and began walking away, saying that she would report this to the Citadel and let them decide whether they believed me. At that moment, I wanted more than anything for things to go back to the way they were, with Ash at my side. But those days were gone, and I wouldn't get her on my side today, so I wasn't going to insult either of us by asking her to join me. But I was tired, so I lost control of my mouth to my feelings of anger and resentment. I told her that the Alliance was just going to blame Cerberus, even with the evidence saying otherwise. Ash just turned to me and said that it was with good reason, because Cerberus couldn't be trusted. Then she wished me good luck, and I was sad to watch her as she walked away. I suddenly began to feel how tired I was, so I radioed Joker and asked him why I was still waiting for the shuttle. I figured that if he didn't hear that conversation he would definitely hear in my voice the fact that I didn't want his particular brand of humour right now, I just wanted to get back to my ship.

The next fifteen minutes waiting for the shuttle and then waiting as it returned to the _Normandy_ I spent totally unresponsive to any outside stimuli. I spent it thinking about Ash and what she had said. I replayed the entire conversation again in my head, picking out the subtler things I hadn't noticed before. She was genuinely hurt that I hadn't contacted her personally, but that wasn't my fault. Anderson was the one who stonewalled me there. Ash had also gone to Anderson recently and asked him point blank if I was alive. It must have killed him, having to keep this secret from the two of us. She also said they'd received intel about Cerberus attacking Horizon. The Alliance was stubborn sometimes, but it wasn't stupid, there had to be solid intel for them to invest so much in such a small colony's defence. I'd only been awake for a week, which wasn't enough time for even rumours of that strength to get around. That meant that someone purposefully released them, the only question was who?

I got my answer sooner than I expected because as soon I as stepped foot on my ship, Joker called out over the intercom that the Illusive Man wanted to talk to me in the briefing room. I was too tired to even bother taking off my armour, I just handed my weapons to Jacob and asked him to put them away as I went to the briefing room. The Illusive Man looked like he'd spent the last two hours just smoking and drinking. He said that I had done good work on Horizon, and that the Collectors would think twice about attacking another colony. I told him that this wasn't a victory, we just interrupted them. He said that was a victory, because it was more than we'd ever gotten before. He continued that the obvious downside was that the Collectors would now be even more elusive, so they would have to find another way to lure them in.

The way he said the last few words made me curious, my tired mind beginning to catalyse thought fragments into one. I told him that Ash had told me there had been a tip about Cerberus and I. He nodded and said that he'd released some carefully disguised rumours that I was alive and working for Cerberus, and that Horizon would be the next target. If my mind had been working faster, I probably would have exploded at him right there, but as it was I was still processing this as he continued that he knew it had been a risk, but he couldn't just wait around while more colonies disappeared. He looked at me and said 'you understand' in the way that all people in command say that when they send soldiers into a trap without telling them. He continued that this proved that the Reapers were interested in me, and people connected to me.

I decided that I still needed him for the time being, so I held my tongue on my thoughts about him sending me into a trap and using people I knew as two-way bait. I told him that I didn't want any more colonies to get hit, and he said that was the whole reason for this mission I was on. He said that he was now going to focus all his available resources on finding a way through the Omega-4 relay. The only way to really stop the Collectors was to hit them where they lived. He said I would need strength, not only in my team but also in resolve. He asked me if I was ready to put my past relationships behind me, and I coldly told him it was none of his damn business. He paused for a second and said that if it affected the mission, I would do better to leave it behind me. He said that even if he found a way, there was no guarantee it was a return trip, so we had to be fully committed. I remember thinking how great it was that he was now sending me on a suicide mission. I told him I would worry about my team, I just needed him to get me to the fight. He said that was the right attitude, and he had some more dossiers for me.

Once the orange grid of the QEC descended I turned around to find Jacob leaning near the door. He stated quietly that we were really going to do it, to hit the Omega-4 relay and hit the Collectors at home. He said he was ready and waiting for the action, but after seeing what happened on Horizon, it was enough to make someone stop and think. I asked him what he meant and he said there was a good chance no-one was coming back from this mission, even if we won. He said that a lot of people would have some unfinished business they'd like to take care of, to get some closure before attempting suicide the way we were planning. I told him that was a problem for tomorrow as I walked past him and to the elevator.

I took off my armour for the third time today, took a shower and then sat down to write this. Even now, I'm thinking about how the Illusive Man toyed with me and my former squad, someone no one gets away with, and wondering why I'm still working for him. I remind myself that I can't do anything about it right now, and that I'll have to wait for the correct opportunity to present itself. Seeing Ash again reminded me of how much I had changed, and how much I wish I hadn't.

Hey Guys, thanks for keeping up with this so far. Just a note, there will be about 5 weeks before the next few chapters are posted, as my personal beta will be unavailable. To compensate, I'll try my hardest to have several chapters ready for when they return, so they can beta and I can post them rapid-fire style.


	12. Sunscreen Recommended

Chapter 11 – Sunscreen Recommended

April 17, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Tasale System, Crescent Nebula

Docked in Nos Astra, Illium

I will never again complain about wearing sunscreen when I'm on shore leave. Sure, sunburn is irritating, but at least no star a human colony orbits is liable to cause permanent damage to anything. The same can't be said of Haestrom, a former quarian colony and now geth outpost. If there are worse places that I could have spent today, I don't want to know about them.

I woke up this morning after what felt like an eternity asleep, thankfully dreamless, but looking at the clock on the bedside table I learned it had only been ten hours. I got up, showered and dressed and made my way down to the mess for breakfast. Gardner had brought out an old Earth favourite: pancakes, with eggs, bacon, maple syrup and a few other extras. I filled up a plate and sat down with a mug of tea. I know a lot of people drink coffee in the morning to wake themselves up, but I have never liked the taste. Besides, tea is just as good, and nothing wakes me up better than a tasty breakfast. I noticed that the sheet I had posted on the wall for suggestions about the next movie to screen already had several handwritten titles. I walked over and took the sheet off the wall so I could examine it while I ate. There were a few old favourites from human entertainment companies, some even older than the Star Wars one I had shown. There were a few titles written down that were obviously written by hands not accustomed to writing in English. One I picked instantly as Garrus' choice, partly because he told me it was one of his favourites on the old _Normandy_, and partly because I recognised his awful attempt at handwritten human script. I saw one that I managed to make out as Jurassic Park, which Gardner informed me was Grunt's handiwork. I thought about that for a few seconds and decided it made sense: earth's dinosaurs were large reptilian killing machines, and so was Grunt. There were also a few new ones, including Citadel, a film I hadn't heard of. I asked the woman sitting nest to me, Herschel, what it was about. She said it was largely based off the events during the Battle of the Citadel, and I had a starring role, or at least my character did. I'm pretty sure I just about snorted up a mouthful of bacon through my nose as she said this. Once I got my bacon down, I asked her whom they had gotten to play me.

When she replied that they'd cast Brianna Nikolite as me, I burst out laughing. I'd seen a few of her films before I died, and while she looked vaguely similar, she would have to go through some serious training before anyone believed she was capable of wearing my armour or shooting straight. I asked Herschel her thoughts about the portrayal, and she said it was nothing compared to actually working with me, and they downplayed my biotic abilities. I rolled my eyes, thinking that was typical. Human biotics are still so rare and largely misunderstood by most of humanity. If I had a credit for every serviceman, even on my last post before the _Normandy_, who had asked me if I could read their minds, I'd have a lot more credits. Officers were slightly better, but some of the older ones were pretty outspoken about their disdain for biotics. In any case, I put the list back up on the wall and decided to check out Citadel for myself before I picked another movie for movie night.

I went back up to the CIC and accessed the terminal there to look over the additional dossiers the Illusive Man had sent my way. One of them was a drell assassin, Thane Krios. His dossier was light on biographical information, but long on the list of confirmed kills, some of them high profile. The other one was an asari, one with the title 'justicar.' It didn't mean anything to me at the moment, but the dossier included a list of combat skills, enough to convince the Illusive Man she was worth recruiting. By fortunate coincidence, both of their last known whereabouts were on Illium. I was about to set a course when EDI interrupted, and said that she had just been forwarded some very interesting information. Cerberus had apparently intercepted a distress message being sent to the Migrant Fleet, and while most of the message was unreadable there was a reference to Tali and the planet Haestrom. She said the message was recent, so there was a high likelihood that she was still there. If nothing else, this was a chance for me to return the favour Tali gave me on Freedom's Progress. I asked EDI to bring up the intel on Haestrom for me and she activated the galaxy map, zooming out from our current location orbiting one of the moons of Propect, the gas giant near Horizon, and then zooming in to a star system near the edge of the galaxy. The information on Haestrom, the third planet in the Dholen system, said it was a former quarian colony, but the geth now controlled the system. Military spy probes had so far not shown evidence of heavy geth presence on the planet itself, mostly just patrol ships in orbit. The system itself was beyond the Perseus Veil, so technically it was within geth space. The prospect of going there was not pleasant, but it made me wonder what Tali could possibly be doing there.

I stood on the podium and looked down at the system and got on the intercom, telling Joker to set a course. He replied that it would be a short trip, only about an hour, since once again both destinations were in relay systems, so we wouldn't have to spend time travelling at conventional FTL speeds. I told him he was the best, and he made a comment about how that should have been patently obvious, and we both had a chuckle. Since we didn't have a lot of time to waste, I went directly to the elevator and pressed the button to go up to my cabin to retrieve my armour from its locker. Once the elevator doors opened, I told everyone via the intercom that we were about to go groundside and were likely to face geth. As I expected, this didn't go down well with a few people, notably Jacob and Garrus. I quietly reminded everyone that their job was to follow my orders, not question them. There weren't anymore complaints over the intercom after that. I donned my clean armour, the red and white stripe on the arm and the N7 logo on the chest stark against the black plates. Once it was all on, I went downstairs to the armoury to collect my weapons.

I ran into Miranda as she was pulling out her pistol and SMG, and wondered not for the first time how she avoided injury whilst wearing only that catsuit. I activated my visor to see if it could tell me anything. She must have caught me staring, because she gave me a coy smile and asked me if I saw anything I liked. I gave her a smile of my own as I replied that she had a good body, but her skin wasn't blue enough for me. The joke lightened the atmosphere, and I told her I was curious about her choice of battlefield clothing. She looked down at her sleeve and said that it may not be as tough as my hardsuit, but her catsuit was actually made out of an experimental microarmour weave, strong enough to deflect small arms fire if it got through, though not enough to stop anything heavier. Slightly impressed at this, I asked her if her current attire was designed for its stopping power, giving her a quick up and down at the extremely figure-hugging cloth. She looked down at the more than ample amount of cleavage she was showing and then looked up at me with a smirk, saying there was more than one way to stop a bullet. We chuckled again and she went to the briefing room to wait. I pulled out my weapons, and looked at the Collector weapon today as a possible heavy weapon.

Jacob came in, obviously from breakfast, saw me pick up the particle beam emitter, and told me he'd been analysing that particular piece before I'd woken up. He said it was like nothing he'd ever seen before, parts of it registered as organic and non-organic. His analysis had also shown that the weapon could be reloaded using power cells normally used for heavy weapons like the grenade launcher. Impressed, I decided that the weapon could prove useful today, so I slung it onto my back and went to wait in the briefing room for the mission team to arrive. Once everyone was there, I brought up the hologram of the Dholen system. I told everyone that EDI had received information indicating that Tali was potentially on Haestrom, and since the information had come from a distress call and Haestrom was in geth space, it was highly likely that she had run into trouble. From her position leaning against the back wall, Jack asked why we were risking so much for her, since she didn't know who Tali was. I told everyone, for the benefit of those who weren't there, that Tali was an old crewmate of mine, she was part of the team that helped bring down Saren, and she'd helped us on Freedom's Progress. Going in to help her was the least we could do.

As I finished the sentence I felt the sudden but brief sensation of weightlessness that meant that we had just hit the relay out of the Shadow Sea. I could tell by the look on the faces of Miranda, Jacob and Jack that they could feel it as well. I asked EDI to bring up a hologram of the system as the sensors had it, rather than the galaxy map, and several things changed. Firstly, the star Dholen increased in size by at least two orders of magnitude. Secondly, there was a lot more geth presence than the military probes suggested. Joker immediately put the _Normandy_ into stealth mode and came over the intercom, saying that whatever I was going to do on Haestrom, I had better do it fast. Once the Normandy was in orbit, we'd only have six, maybe seven hours before the sinks overheated and they'd have to turn off the stealth systems and try and fight our way out. I didn't like the sound of the prospect, but the star was also bothering me. I asked aloud to EDI why the star map hadn't shown this, and her hologram came up near the door as she explained that only the planet Haestrom had been scanned, not the entire system. The galaxy map mostly used data from when the Dholen system was a quarian colony, which had been abandoned over 300 years ago. I looked at the angry red orb in the hologram uncertainly. While astrophysics was never a strong point in my education, I was pretty sure that stars don't transition from main sequence yellow to red giant in under several thousand years. Something seriously wrong was happening there, and Tali was potentially right in the middle of it.

As we came into orbit, Joker said that the _Normandy's_ sensors had picked up a ship on the planet's surface, the outline of which appeared to be quarian in nature. I told him to pilot the shuttle down there, and the nine of us went down to the garage to board the shuttle. Once we were all in, the shuttle moved out of the loading bay door and into the atmosphere. As we descended, EDI told us there were several geth dropships in the vicinity, and there was an unanticipated environmental hazard. Apparently, the star's increased radiation output had overwhelmed the protective magnetosphere most garden worlds possess, and that direct exposure to sunlight would interfere with electronics, and prolonged exposure would permanently disable them. The shuttle door opened, thankfully facing away from the sun, and the nine of us jumped out and the shuttle lifted off back to the _Normandy_. The shuttle itself wasn't equipped with stealth systems, so it would be possible to detect if it remained groundside. We were in the shade of an ancient skyscraper for now, but the quarian ship was to the north, which meant we had to venture into the light at least twice.

I took a tentative step out to see what would happen. Since my personal barrier was controlled by my biotics, not my armour, there wasn't any effect to that, but my visor lit up with all kinds of warnings. The light itself felt hotter than any stars' light I'd ever felt groundside before, and was a lot more red than I was used to. Since it was about mid-afternoon, the star was heading towards the western horizon, which meant that the old buildings gave us plenty of cover from the harmful sunlight. I ran to the next patch of shadows, my team following me. Miranda, Jacob and Jack were fine, whilst Zaeed, Garrus, Mordin and Kasumi all made some sort of comment about the light messing with their kinetic barriers. Grunt said nothing, either because he didn't use or didn't care about shields, since he practically didn't need them.

We ran across to the shadows on the other side, coming across a sealed gateway, probably once a vehicle access point. The door had been locked from a remote console at the security checkpoint nearby. I had to hand it to the quarians, before their exile, they built stuff to last. If this was earth, something left for three centuries would probably not still work. I opened the door to the security checkpoint only to be greeted by the smell of death: the smell of old blood and decomposition of the quarian slumped against the wall, as well as the burnt circuits and coolant fluid smell that meant dead geth bodies. After the smell wafted past me I entered, seeing the console and hearing a message recorded by the quarian before he died. It stated that the late marine had stayed behind to hold off the geth, and for anyone who found this recording, that Tali and the data were all that mattered. He finished it with the standard quarian farewell of 'Keelah selai', which I recalled Tali telling me translated loosely as 'ancestors protect us.' I opened the gate and we all went through it, arms up and ready after seeing the dead geth.

We were right to do so, because as soon as we stepped through the gate, we spotted a geth dropship bearing down on us fast. We got into what cover we could and waited as we heard the geth rain down upon us. I heard at least a dozen impacts, and when I looked up my visor targeted 15 different units. Luckily for us they were mostly just the standard white troopers, with a few of the red rocket troops as well. My team opened fire, their shots impacting the blue shields that the geth are renowned for. I decided that I would be most effective in this particular battle fighting from their rear flank, so I picked out a target at the back and used my biotic charge. Since his shields were still up I finished it off by pushing my shotgun forward until the muzzle collided with the chestplate, then pulled the trigger. Though their heads are little more than large cameras, I swore this one almost looked surprised as it fell down, white coolant leaking from the jagged wound in its synthetic body. I turned around quickly, certain that the sight and sound of my attack would draw some attention. I wasn't wrong, as I felt the barrage of familiar impacts of geth weapons on my barrier. I just aimed and fired at the nearest geth with my shotgun, overloading its shields with one shot at point blank range and finishing it with a second shot. I didn't even have time to finish shooting the final geth, its head blown apart as I shot away its shields. I turned to see the still smoking rifle in Garrus' hands as the team formed up around me. We didn't have time to say much, because we could hear the sounds of battle coming from a nearby tunnel.

We came in just in time to see a pair of geth executing some quarian marines. Those two geth fell before they even had a chance to turn around. Once they were dead there was silence in the tunnel, giving us some peace to investigate. There was a weapon case nearby, which I opened to find full of Tempest SMGs, which were bigger than our current ones. I wasted no time in pulling out one and checking the stats, finding them more powerful, and with a larger capacity per thermal clip. I doubted we'd have any trouble with thermal clips today, seeing as the geth had pioneered the technology, and everyone had copied them. Once everyone who wanted one had taken a Tempest, we moved on until we found something very interesting. Next to where the quarians had been executed there was a geth winking in and out of visibility. Once I came to it and touched it the stealth system failed entirely, but the implications were disturbing. If the geth could sneak up on us, especially where shields and other electronics were weak, then we could be in serious trouble. The one in front of me was carrying a weapon that I hadn't seen before, and I had fought and killed plenty of geth. Most of the normal-sized foot soldiers carried the same rifle we had already seen today, but this weapon was something else. It had three large-bore barrels in a triangular formation, the top two of which reminded me of a double-barrelled shotgun, an archaic earth weapon. I picked it up and it folded away into carry mode, then placed it on the empty magnetic holster where a sniper rifle would go, pledging to investigate this weapon further in the future. Jacob gave me a quizzical look and opened his mouth to say something before I cut him off, reminding him that it was largely my work that had lead to the retrieval of about 20 working geth rifles as I chased after Saren, some of which I had used, others of which I parted with to various research institutions for various favours. The geth were often at the forefront of weapons technology, so investigating this one would likely be in our best interests. He closed his mouth and nodded reluctantly, and I heard him tighten the grip on his own shotgun.

I was about to lead the team out when I heard a tiny sound, like a voice coming over a radio. I leaned down to the body of a dead quarian and heard the voice louder, confirming my theory. I reached down and picked up his receiver to tune into the frequency he was using, 617 theta. The quarian on the other end was calling for his squad, presumably the ones killed before we got there. I told him that his men were dead, and that I was here to help. He introduced himself as Kal'Reegar, and said that was a good thing I was here, they needed all the help they could get. They'd been here for several days now on a high-risk mission to retrieve something from the planet, he wasn't sure what. Things had gone fine, even with the sun frying their electronics, until the geth had found them by chance 12 hours ago. They had avoided the patrol ships initially by going in low-emissions, and I had to believe that was Tali's idea, copied as best she could from her time on the original _Normandy_. But their luck ran out when a patrol ship spotted them from orbit and landed shortly thereafter, releasing several dropships that were patrolling the area. Since then it had been a losing battle, the quarians holding them off as best they could, cut off from retreating to their ship. Thankfully, the solar radiation had also scrambled offworld transmissions, so the geth hadn't brought in reinforcements yet. I asked him how many men he had left. He said they hadn't stated with many, a dozen marines and the science team, both of which were down to half their original numbers, but they'd killed a lot of geth in kind. When I then asked him what was so important to risk entering geth space, and he replied that I was asking the wrong person.

We could hear the sounds of battle close by now, and the tunnel opened to a large quadrangle formed by several buildings. We ran up to see several quarians holding position in front of a door, firing at the geth surrounding them. It was a good defensive position, not unlike the Spartans at Thermopylae. I asked Kal one last question about Tali, to which he replied that she was alive, and that extracting her was the priority. He'd left some men sworn to protect her, so she was still alive as long as they were. We were about to fire on the geth and enter the battle below when I heard the unmistakable sound of an incoming geth dropship. It made a low pass over the chokepoint, firing a salvo of three shots from its main gun. The explosions undoubtedly killed most of the quarians holding the point, but before the geth could do anything else, one of the large stone pillars fell over, completely blocking the path. I heard Kal over the radio saying that he was fine, and was heading back to Tali's position. He said there were some demolition charges in the area, I could probably use them to make a hole in the pillar and join him. I acknowledged this and then charged at the nearest geth as my team opened fire, overloading shields and painting the ground with white coolant. At that point EDI came weakly over the radio and said that the Normandy's sensors had picked up the charges, and she was uploading the locations to my suit computer. My visor lit up with two yellow holographic points, one in a nearby garage, and one a little further away.

We advanced quickly towards the nearest garage, seeing some old wheeled vehicles in there, as well as a few geth. We made short work of them and looked around for the charge, and anything else of interest. Garrus went up the ramp and found a medi-gel kit, siphoning it out quickly into his tank reservoir. I found a laptop, with the last file open a journal entry by Tali. I played it, listening to her voice as she said they needed core samples to get a timeline of the radiation increase, but the star kept frying their equipment. She recounted a tale of the mining laser I'd used on Therum to clear some rubble and get to Liara, saying they would try something similar with the charges. I picked up the charge that was next to it, and almost immediately heard the sound of a geth dropship putting down reinforcements outside our position. Luckily, the garage had been full of both old and new crates and vehicles, so there was plenty of cover to use as we fought the geth.

They had apparently decided that we were a threat, so this drop had included an enemy I'd much prefer to fight with the aid of a vehicular-mounted cannon, a Geth Prime. The thing was nearly four metres tall, and it fired at us with long bursts from its large-calibre machine rifle, interspersed with charged energy pulse blasts. It took all nine of us firing at it to finally break through its shields, and then we still had to deal with the thick armour plating. It was thankfully too big for cover, but it kept sending out combat drones to fight us, distracting several of us with paralysing electrical attacks before it ran out of energy or we shot it. Zaeed threw an inferno grenade at it, the white-hot plasma burning through the armour and causing a slight distraction. Jack decided this was a good time for her to show off, throwing a levitation field at it. It didn't do anything, so she put her shotgun away and used both hands, concentrating her biotics for a more powerful effect. This time the gargantuan geth finally lifted off the ground, but this didn't do anything more than give it a better angle to shoot at us. Jack shouted at the rest of us to use biotics as well, which we did. Miranda and Jacob threw warp fields which exploded as soon at it hit the near-weightless Prime, and I launched a powerful throw that sent it careening into an ancient forklift, the solid metal tines piercing through its blackened chest. It looked down at the impaling tines before its head fell in death, and we made our way out of the garage.

I noticed that there was a ramp leading up to a catwalk with a good view of the area, a good place to put a sniper or two. The only problem was that there was no protection from the sun, so any shots fired in their direction would go straight to armour, or worse. Since that was the case, I decided to send up Garrus, Grunt and Zaeed, the most heavily armoured of the nine of us, and ones with adept at using long-range rifles. The three of them took position, their shields failing as the six of us made out way into the other garage on the far side of the quadrangle. We came across some more geth, including a pair of Destroyers armed with flamethrowers. Mordin already knew how to deal with them, sending an overload attack from his omni-tool and making one of them explode violently. Kasumi wasted no time in doing something similar to the other one quickly advancing on our position. We moved forward at a steady pace, the three snipers taking care of geth as we advanced. We entered the garage and like the previous one, the demolition charge was next to a computer. There was another journal entry by Tali, this one a few hours older than the previous one. Her voice said that it was impossible to get direct solar reading because of the nature of the radiation, but that the star shouldn't be the way it was. It was a normal star when the quarians lived here, and stars don't die that quickly.

As I picked up the charge Garrus told me to get out, as the dropship was making another pass. I came out just as it started raining geth, several landing on the very catwalk I had my three rifle specialists on, but I wasn't worried about those three- they could take care of themselves. I just charged at the nearest geth, feeling the world blur around me as my biotics sent me faster than any organic had the right to move. As the geth soldier went flying with the explosion as I came out of the charge, I fired my shotgun into it, turning it from sentient to corpse before it hit the ground again. The sound of a krogan roar and soon after the sight of two geth taking flying lessons told me that Grunt was having some fun. I blasted another geth with my shotgun and ejected the spent clip, picking up another one and loading it into the slot.

Once this wave of geth had been eliminated, the nine of us walked back to the fallen pillar blocking our way. I took both of the charges and stabbed them into the rock, pressing down on the igniters and then running back around the corner to escape the blast wave. Once the ringing in my ears had faded but with a smile on my face, I waved everyone forward into the building and out of the sun. Once inside we came across what had obviously been another stand by the quarians. There were at least six geth, some still twitching, as well as three dead quarians, the blood still pooling around their bodies. Kasumi tried to brighten the mood by say that the quarian architecture was exquisite, and that she could make a fortune if she could get a building off the planet to sell. I found a geth rifle that a quarian had obviously started to disassemble on a table nearby. It was in too many pieces to put back together quickly, so I just scanned the whole thing with my omni-tool, hoping there would be something we could use there. I found another journal entry by Tali, and found that it reminded me of the old Tali I'd first met, the young girl out on Pilgrimage, seeing the galaxy for the first time. Her voice was filled with awe as she said that their ancestors walked these halls with uncovered heads, that the star Dholen was normal back then. She said there was so much space compared to living on the flotilla, and walls of stone instead of metal bulkheads everywhere. Her voice became sad as she wished that her friends were here to see this, and wished that I was there as well. I closed the journal and heard her voice again, but not from the laptop.

I turned around and found her head floating above a communications console, asking for base camp. I hit the answer button and solemnly told her that there was no one here, the quarians were either dead or fallen back. She let out a curse before saying resignedly that they all knew this was a high-risk mission. Tali then looked back up and asked me what I was doing there, in the middle of geth space. I told her that I'd been in the neighbourhood, and was here to return the favour from Freedom's Progress. She thanked me, saying it was good to hear a friendly voice. Apparently, since Kal'Reegar had gotten her to the observatory, there had been almost no contact. She could still hear the geth outside, but she was safe for now, and had the data the mission was all about. I briefly entertained the idea of bringing in the _Normandy_ to assist; but the state of the buildings, and seeing what had happened with the geth dropship before changed my mind. She said the observatory was nearby my current location, so I looked over at the door and saw that someone had taken great pains to close it permanently. I asked Tali if she could unlock it remotely, and watched as she looked down and tapped a few keys. She looked up again and the door beeped as it opened. She told me to hurry, and try and keep Kal'Reegar alive if I found him. I nodded and closed the connection, pulling out my shotgun again as I signalled everyone through the open door.

We went out and through the door and came across a pair of geth that I shot instantly out of the sky, my rage taking over my instincts and training for just a second. Zaeed and Garrus looked slightly surprised at my sudden outburst before Jacob identified them as recon drones, and I told them all that I'd watched a good man die in front of me after being ambushed by them. We continued on, stalking through what probably used to be some sort of open-air business boulevard, shooting down more of the annoying yet dangerous recon drones. We soon had a bigger threat to contend with, another Prime, in addition to the seemingly never-ending supply of drones. It took all nine of us again to finally bring the Prime down. Once it fell, the wave of recon drones ended too, either because the geth were retreating or regrouping.

We came to a room that was part of the observatory complex, an active terminal displaying a map of the area, which revealed that the quickest, and seemingly only route, due to rubble and fallen walls, was to go across a courtyard. The windows were covered in metal shutters, and I pressed a button to lower them, figuring that this would be a good spot to leave some snipers, since this room was fairly high. The shutters came down and I was greeted by the sight of a geth colossus turning its vaguely equine head at look at me. It stared at us for a second before rearing up on its legs, a gesture that I remembered was followed by a siege pulse blast. I shouted at everyone and jumped out of the way, the nine of us running for the stairs, out of sight of the towering quadrupedal machine. As we ran Kasumi asked me if it was like this everywhere I went, to which Garrus replied that at least it was never dull. At the base of the stairs we found a single quarian marine, who leaned out of cover just long enough to fire his rocket launcher. We ran into cover next to him, Garrus and Zaeed laying down suppressing fire while I got some intel from the marine. He had a medi-gel kit next to him and a bullet wound to his thigh, as well as plenty of thermal clips.

He introduced himself as Kal'Reegar, the marine I had spoken to before. He said he still didn't know why I was there, but he wasn't about to be picky, seeing as he was the last one alive. He told me that after they had secured Tali in the observatory, they had doubled back to try and hold the geth back at this position. The dropship had blown that plan to hell by releasing a torrent of geth into the courtyard, including the colossus. He'd barely gotten to this position with only a flesh wound, the rest of his team hadn't been so lucky. He said the geth had been trying to hack the door and get Tali, but he'd been 'distracting' them with his rocket launcher. Most of the geth were apparently easy enough to deal with, but the colossus was a pain because it had a self-repair protocol, meaning we had to get up close to it if we wanted to damage it permanently. I asked him about the layout of the battlefield so I could make a plan for the ten of us. He said that the right catwalk was good for snipers, but didn't have much cover from the colossus. The middle had plenty of cover from the geth and the colossus, whereas the left shielded us almost completely from the colossus, but left our flank begging for geth to kill us. He said that his suit was punctured, but he was still able to fight, he wasn't about to die from an infection in the middle of a battle. He had a rocket launcher, which could easily put holes in the geth. I took all this into account and formed a plan of attack.

Kal'Reegar would stay here with Zaeed and Miranda and lay down suppressing fire and take targets of opportunity. Garrus would take Mordin and Kasumi and rain down sniper fire and tech attack from the right catwalk. I would lead Grunt, Jack and Jacob down through the middle where we would use out shotguns for what they were intended: close range combat. Once I had everyone confirm their assignments, I leaned out of cover to pick a target, and then used my biotics to charge at it. Kal and his team laid down some suppressing fire so the rest of the people who were moving could get into position while I started firing my shotgun with almost reckless abandon and using biotics to throw geth into solid objects. I was quickly joined by Jack's biotic parkour and Grunt's relentless charging. Jacob eventually caught up to us, taking out geth along the left side of the field as he advanced. The colossus had fired its chin-mounted auto-cannon at any target they stayed out of cover for longer than a second, but between the ten of us it couldn't focus on a single target long enough to be a real threat, especially since my shotgun team kept moving. Eventually we made it to the base of the ledge that the colossus was dominating, out of its line of sight for the moment. I signalled Garrus to get its attention, and he shot at the head with his sniper rifle, Mordin and Kasumi doubling up on overload attacks. That certainly did the trick, the line of large-calibre cannon fire swinging in their direction, allowing my shotgun team to sneak to the left. Once I was in position I signalled my team and they let loose rapid-fire on their shotguns, distracting the colossus once again. As it turned its head our direction, I saw a rocket hit the shield and my visor told me the shield was now down. It fired a siege pulse I was quick enough to duck into cover to avoid while I swapped the shotgun for the Collector weapon. I stood up and aimed, pulling the trigger and sending a beam of energised particles towards the massive foe. I aimed for the legs, hoping the beam was powerful enough, and the armour on the legs weak enough, for the beam to cut right through it. I got lucky as one of the front legs was cleaved by the particle beam and it began to fall over. Kal'Reegar then finished it off with a salvo of rockets, the first one detonating after punching through its armoured chest, the second exploding against its head. With a ground-shaking impact, the massive geth finally fell, Garrus' team joining mine at the entrance to the observatory. Tali's voice came over the radio as she unlocked the door, asking us to come in.

We came in to see four geth with shotgun wounds in their torsos, obviously Tali's work. The woman in question was working at a terminal at the end of the room. She turned around, her omni-tool glowing on her arm as it acted out her commands. She said if I hadn't arrived when I did, she'd never had made it out of the room. Their mission had been a total disaster, and she wished she could have joined me back on Freedom's Progress, but she couldn't let anyone else take her place for this. I asked her what this mission was about, and she said it was all about the star, Dholen. Only a few centuries ago, it was a normal star, and now it was rapidly approaching red giant status, at a speed no normal star ever would. I asked her what could cause such a thing and she replied that the data she had analysed so far indicated dark energy affecting the interior of the star, similar to when stars blow off mass to enter the red giant phase at the end of their lives, but Dholen was far too young for this to be natural. It was interesting, and the implications disturbing, but I asked her if it was worth all the death that had been caused by it. She shakily said that it wasn't her call, but the Admiralty Board's, one of them being her own father. She had to trust that they knew what was best.

I'd been at the receiving end of enough missions that went to hell to never want to trust any admiral again, and I asked her what she thought, not some admiral safe on the flotilla. She let her anger come through, saying that the data better be worth it. Some of the people on this mission had been her friends, and all of them were good at their jobs; the price of getting this data was too high. I asked her if she was willing to join up with me again, and she said she had made a promise to finish this mission, and now that it was done, she'd send off the data and join me on the _Normandy_. If the Admiralty Board didn't like it they could go to hell, because they didn't watch her team die around her. A croaky voice from the doorway interjected that not everyone had died. We all turned around to see Kal'Reegar walk in with some help from Zaeed. He turned his head to Tali and complimented me, saying I was as good as Tali's stories, that the geth never had a chance. I asked him if he wanted transport, and he refused, saying that their ship still worked, as long as he got to it before the geth brought reinforcements. Tali told him she wouldn't be joining him, and he said that was fine, he'd take the data and inform the admirals of her decision. He turned to me and told me to keep her safe as he keyed in the auto-pilot on his ship. Apparently it was only a small ship, so it would probably be able to land near the observatory. I called Joker and told him everything was done and we needed pickup, sending him the location of the observatory.

Five minutes later we were on our way, Tali having been introduced to the rest of the team and hugging Garrus like the old friend he was, before sitting next to me and bugging me for details about the new _Normandy_. Normally, talking about my ship is something I like, but Tali just goes into technical detail way above my head. Seizing the chance to use her knowledge of engineering, I took the strange weapon I'd retrieved off the cloaked geth and asked her what it was. She took it and admired it from several angles, unfolding it and looking at the ammunition and thermal clip slots. She said this was a new weapon that the geth had developed recently, and had only been seen in a few encounters, and one had yet to be recovered for study. She said it was something akin to a shotgun, but not like anything organic species had ever made. Instead of firing a certain number of pellets in mostly random directions, this weapon fired three large projectiles in a set triangular spread, making it accurate at a much longer range than most shotguns. The projectiles themselves had the ability to curve slightly as they flew, though she was unsure how this worked. The projectiles fired were superconductors, able to build up huge amounts of static electricity and release it on impact, adding massive electrical damage on top of high penetrating power because of the sheer mass of the projectile. It could also electrocute multiple enemies if I caught them with a single shot. I stared at this new shotgun in awe, knowing that I would be taking it for myself and wondering if it would be possible to make a few extras for the rest of the shotgun-wielding crewmates.

Once the shuttle was safely on the _Normandy_ I told Joker to set an immediate course for Illium, I didn't want to spend one second longer in geth space than I needed. I felt the subtle change in inertia before the dampeners kicked in as we made our way to the elevator. Jack left before the elevator even arrived, throwing her shotgun at me and using her parkour skills to run up a wall into her little hideaway between decks. Miranda just rolled her eyes and muttered 'show-off' under her breath while we waited for the elevator. Everyone made their way to the combat deck to place their weapons in the armoury, including Tali, since she was new here. She kept looking at the new ship, and I could tell she was mentally comparing it to the original, as well as logging things she'd want to check out personally later.

Once I had deposited my weapons I guided Tali to the briefing room for the formal introductions, even if they were unnecessary. Jacob followed me as the official Cerberus officer for this, which was fine with me, for now. Jacob started with saying he was looking forward to having Tali on the team. Tali turned to him and said with a voice filled with disdain and condescension that she didn't know who Jacob was, but Cerberus once threatened the Migrant Fleet, so there was no use sucking up, because it was just wasted breath. I said that I wanted Tali on board precisely because she wasn't Cerberus, because I wanted and needed people I could trust on this mission. Jacob was slightly disheartened, but continued that he hadn't been part of what had gone down with the Migrant Fleet, and hoped we could all work past it. Tali turned away from Jacob as if ignoring him and told me that she assumed I was here to blow Cerberus up, and if that were the case, she'd loan me the grenade. Otherwise, she was here for me, not them, almost spitting the venomed words at Jacob. I said she was free to study the ship, since we'd gotten some new upgrades and toys, and Jacob said he'd get her the necessary clearance. Tali just said sarcastically that she couldn't be part of the team unless she knew how the ship worked. She leaned in close and whispered so Jacob couldn't hear that these were the same people who thought enslaving rachni, husks and Thorian creepers was a good idea, so I should be careful. As she walked out, Jacob said she should introduce herself to EDI, the ship's AI. Tali just turned around and even through her helmet, I could feel the blistering look she gave Jacob, before silently making her way down to the engineering deck.

After going up to my cabin, removing my armour and having a shower, I decided to go and give Tali a slightly less formal introduction to our new home. As I had expected, I found her on the engineering deck, familiarising herself with the ship's systems. She looked up as she heard my footsteps approach and turned around to face me. I asked her if she had a minute to talk, and she looked suspiciously over at Ken and Gabby, or at least as suspiciously as her helmet would allow. She grabbed my arm and gently tugged me towards the drive core. She must have really wanted the privacy, because she knew how I felt if I got too close to a drive core. She said thanks again, since there really hadn't been time for proper thanks on Haestrom, and for keeping Reegar alive. She hoped the Admiralty Board appreciated the cost of the data, since all it was about was stars blowing up.

I asked her if she'd heard any news about Reegar, and she said she'd received a message just before I'd gotten there from him, telling her he'd make a full recovery. Any time a quarian got a suit puncture it was a matter of luck, but he'd managed to get only a minor infection. I asked her to remind me about the Admiralty Board, since wasn't her father on it? She said they were one of two major powers in the flotilla, one that dealt with defence and immediate action, as well as major criminal charges like treason. The Conclave was the civilian government, made of representatives from every ship that decided on laws and major fleet decisions. Asking if she'd had a response about the data, she said that it was unlikely she'd hear anything soon, much less on an unsecured channel.

I enquired about how she was settling in, and she said she liked the quiet of the _Normandy_, compared to the constant rumbling of ships in the Migrant Fleet. But she missed the old faces from the _Normandy_, like Pressly and Adams. Having the _Normandy_ with Cerberus logos everywhere just felt wrong to her, and it did for me as well. I told her that I wasn't working for Cerberus, they were working for me, and she asked acidly if I was the one who ordered all the listening devices and locator beacons all over the ship? She continued with less venom that she knew I needed resources to fight the Collectors, but I should be careful around Cerberus. I had picked up that Tali was no fan of Cerberus back on Freedom's Progress, so I asked her what had happened between them and the Migrant Fleet. She said they had attacked one of their ships, the Idenna. They were apparently trying to kill or capture a human biotic, but she didn't have any more details than that. Cerberus had made an enemy of the quarian people that day. I'd like to have said that was probably a one time thing, but I knew better when it came to Cerberus. 'Human advancement, at any cost' was their creed. I told her that I fully expected the Illusive Man to betray me at some point soon, so I was recruiting people I could trust if it came to mutiny. She was glad to hear this, and said we should both get back to work, as she had a lot of things to read before she would be comfortable with the new _Normandy_. I asked her what she thought of it so far, and she replied that Cerberus may be one of the most despicable organisations in the galaxy, but they knew how to build a ship. The new _Normandy_ was much better than the old one had been, and the engineers knew their stuff and were very polite to her. I mused that this last fact was probably due more to the fact that Ken and Gabby were former Alliance, not Cerberus to the bone like some people here.

I excused myself and went back up to the combat deck to check my emails and talk to Kelly. I opened up the terminal and found quite a few new emails waiting for me. One of them instantly went into the trash, more spam from Morlan the shady salarian on the Citadel. The next one was pretty badly written, but apparently it was from a prisoner who managed to escape _Purgatory's_ destruction, and was coming after me. He seemed to think he was all that, but I wasn't the least bit scared, mostly because I was on a ship that was invisible and impossible to track. One simply had the subject 'therapy', and it was from Han Olar, the volus scientist from Noveria. His email was riddled with survivor's guilt and morbidity, but there was a small spark of positivity. The next one was from Dr Michel, one I'd helped a few times two years back. She said she was saddened by the news of my death, but glad that I'd been reported alive again. She said she missed Garrus and myself, and the galaxy needed more people like us. She was worried about Garrus since she had lost contact with him, and hoped we'd make some time for her next time we were on the Citadel. I raised an eyebrow at the subject of the next one, thinking it might be more spam, but it turned out to be one from a survivor on Horizon. She was obviously distraught by the fact that the colony was so empty now, and the Alliance and Council were doing nothing to help them. I admit I could see both sides of the argument here, the colony begging for help and becoming jaded when none came, and the Alliance and Council not wanting to commit resources to people who'd already turned their backs on them anyway. The last one was an email I had expected as soon as Tali left Haestrom, and from the person I had expected it from.

It was an approval of Tali's transfer to the _Normandy_ from the Admiralty Board of the Migrant Fleet. It stated that her service on the _Normandy_ had been given extended leeway to her return, but additional duties to the Fleet may be required. It went on to say that while the choice was hers, they suspected that our previous working relationship might have influenced her. The last line was a veiled warning to treat her right or face 'severe and appropriate' action. It was signed by none other than Rael'Zorah himself, Tali's father. I closed the message and tried not to think about how much that email had sounded like a father not approving of his daughter's choice of friends. I asked Joker over the intercom where we were and he said we were approaching Illium as we spoke. I told him to call me when we docked in Nos Astra, and went over to Kelly to see if there was anything I needed to know. She replied that Miranda wanted to talk to me downstairs in her office, she'd received news that had made her rather anxious.

I went back up to my cabin to write up what happened on Haestrom while we travelled. I also downloaded 'Citadel' for my viewing pleasure, if I managed to find some spare time to watch it. I looked over the dossiers on Samara and Thane Krios again, trying to decide which one warranted my attention first. And of course, at that moment I forgot the first rule of life: nothing ever goes to plan.

**A/N**: Sorry it took so long for this one, my beta only came back last week. To make up for the lack of updates, I'll have chapters 12, 13 and possibly 14 up in the next seven days.

As always: read & enjoy, review & share!


	13. All in the Family

Chapter 12 – All in the Family

April 18, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Tasale System, Crescent Nebula

Docked in Nos Astra, Illium

It's not often that I get to see happy endings, but today was a rare exception, despite the high body count. It also offered me some interesting insights into the enigma that is my XO, Miranda Lawson. Things didn't start the way I had planned, but I think it worked out for the best.

It all began just after we entered the Tasale System and Miranda received news that caused her some distress. She'd told Kelly that she wanted to see me, and I had the feeling it was urgent. I went down to her office after sorting out the Haestrom situation and found her staring at her terminal, for once not busily working at it. She seemed lost in her own little world for a while before she finally noticed that I was standing in the doorway. I let myself in, door closing behind me, and took a seat opposite her. She looked at me with an expression akin to defeat, one that I never expected to see on her. With a dejected sounding voice, she said she was in the uncomfortable position of needing my assistance, and that while she wouldn't normally discuss personal matters like this, the situation was important. I reminded her that my crew are important to me, and I was here to make sure they got the attention they needed. Apparently this was reassurance enough, as she then asked me if I remembered our last conversation about her father.

Hiding from her father wasn't the only reason she went to Cerberus for protection. She had a sister, a genetic twin, and though Cerberus had tried to keep this sister safe, her father had found her somehow. I cocked my head oddly at the use of the term 'genetic twin' but didn't get a chance to enquire as she said that her sister and her sister's family needed to be relocated. Miranda slammed her hand on the desk angrily as she said she'd fought for a long time for her sister to have a normal life, and she wasn't going to let her father mess that up now. It all seemed straightforward to me, and I asked why she needed me when it sounded like she already had it organised. She replied that she wanted to oversee the transfer, and it would mean a lot if I was there in case something went wrong. I told her I'd be willing to help, and she looked visibly relieved. She said that the transfer would be taking place in roughly six hours in Nos Astra, which was part of the reason she had asked me. She had a contact called Lanteia who would be waiting for us at a bar near the trading floor.

I nodded and left, making my way to the mess for a meal, since I hadn't eaten since before Haestrom. Once I had a plate full of food I got on the intercom, asking Garrus and Tali to meet me in the mess. They both arrived as I was about halfway through my plate, wondering why I'd asked them there. I told them that there was plenty of food for the levos on board, but the only rations in dextro were ordered by Garrus, so Tali might want to use this stop in a major trading hub to purchase something more suited to her tastes. There was already a fridge singled out for dextro use that Garrus had been using, and it should have plenty of room for anything Tali would like. They both nodded and began talking to each other about what to get, as I finished my plate and then went back up to the CIC. Once I was on the podium Joker came over the intercom and told all hands to brace for planetary entry. I grabbed the rail of the galaxy map podium as I felt the ship enter the atmosphere, conflicting forces of gravity and inertia making it feel like everything was leaning about 30 degrees to stern. Once the ship levelled off I walked over to the lab, thinking that for a mission like the one Miranda was suggesting, someone with covert training would be an asset. I found Mordin happily tinkering away at something on his bench, though he snapped his head my direction as soon as the doors opened. He asked me what I wanted, and I told him I had a job perfect for his STG training. He raised an eyebrow and I gave him the details of a clandestine surveillance and possible wetwork job involving a VIP escort, neglecting to mention it was Miranda's sister, since it probably wouldn't have made a difference. He smiled at the thought, and said he'd be ready in a few minutes. I nodded and headed back to the elevator, finding Miranda already walking towards the armoury.

I went up and donned my armour, before heading to the armoury just in time to meet Mordin as he selected his weapons and checked his omni-tool was fully functional. The three of us met Tali and Garrus, both in casual wear as opposed to mission armour, as they got off the elevator, the five of use heading towards the airlock. After the standard pressurisation, we disembarked onto a wide balcony leading towards one of the central trade areas of the city. The whole group looked to our left almost immediately, following the sound of footsteps coming from the asari heading towards us and the two LOKI mechs in tow.

She greeted us warmly and with a genuine smile, and it was my guess this was her entire job. Still, when she told us that the normal fees for our visit would be waived, that definitely perked my interest, partly in understandable curiosity, but mostly wondering who had ordered such a thing. When asked, she replied that Liara had paid them for me.

I'll admit, that stopped me in my tracks for a second. I'd known that Liara was somewhere on Illium, but I hadn't expected to come into contact quite so soon. Part of me had desperately wanted to come here first, even before going to Omega, but after meeting Ash on Horizon, I became a little more cautious. Ash had been a good friend, and her reaction was heartbreaking. I loved Liara, and she had loved me, but I had died. She would have mourned and become a different person, and no matter how much I tried to deny it, I was different now too. I broke out of my reverie in time to hear the asari say that Liara wanted to speak to me at my convenience. Again, part of me wanted nothing more than to feel her in my arms again, but a larger part of me was scared, afraid of rejection, so I decided that I would wait first, give myself time. I could almost feel the awkward looks coming from Garrus and Tali, and it was Garrus who asked what Liara was doing here. She had apparently become a very successful information broker, and was looking forward to seeing me. Hearing that was a small comfort, but only a small one compared to my own dread.

The five of us continued to the trading floor, Garrus and Tali peeling off and heading towards the food markets while Miranda led Mordin and myself to her contact. Along the way, an asari I'd never seen before called out my name. Normally I wouldn't stop for fans, but she seemed different somehow. I walked up to her and she said it was good to meet me, as she wanted to convey a message from a 'friend I made on Noveria.' I didn't recall any real friends I'd made on that blizzard-blasted rock, but I told her to tell me anyway. Her eyes then rolled into the back of her head and she began speaking in an echo, and I realised which friend she had met. The message told of hiding and rebuilding in secret, but of a coming time when the rachni would return to help me fight a great darkness, no doubt meaning the Reapers. There was an obscure reference that made me wonder if Sovereign was responsible for the Rachni War. The last line was a thanks of sorts, and then the messenger returned to normal. I asked if the queen was on Illium, and she said the message had just been a memory. She had encountered the rachni on an uncharted world, and they'd given her a new life and purpose, before thanking me herself for giving them a second chance. She then farewelled me, saying that I wouldn't see her again, before disappearing into the crowd. I stood there for a few seconds pondering the strange message, before I heard Miranda quietly clear her throat, which reminded me of our purpose for being here.

We followed her lead again until we arrived at the entry to a bar called 'Eternity.' I was starting to notice a theme when it came to the naming of asari bars, but this train of thought was derailed by an asari, likely the owner by her ramblings, standing outside; quietly fuming about a troublemaker inside. She looked up and told us to be careful; the human troublemaker was demanding the deed to the bar. She gave my armour a second glance and then looked slightly hopeful, suggesting that I could kill him legally in self-defence, and she'd be a witness to the fact. I gave her a shake of my head and she looked slightly disappointed, but she said she was activating the security cameras, just in case.

We went inside and it was impossible to miss whom she had been talking about. He was at the bar, trying and obviously failing to intimidate the bartender, who just looked like she was bored out of her skull. As much fun as it would be to see him get hurt, I was almost certain I recognised the voice doing the talking. He obviously heard me walking up behind him, and he turned around and revealed himself to be none other than Conrad Verner, an extremely impressionable and not particularly bright human I'd met on the Citadel. He was wearing what looked like N7 armour, but since you need to actually attend and graduate the N7 program to get some, his was likely nothing more than a cheap knockoff. He didn't even have any weapons I could see. When he recognised me the bartender asked me to rein in my 'friend' before she was forced to hurt him. Not that I wouldn't like to see him actually discouraged by a little violence, but I figured he'd overreact and probably only get himself killed later. Instead, I tried to take a gentler approach, no mean feat considering his bravado was getting on my nerves.

I asked him what he was doing trying to get the deed, and he said that an undercover cop had told him that this bar was a front for a red sand dealer, and he needed to get the deed to crack the ring. I rolled my eyes at his gullibility, and the bartender proceeded to explain things to him with a very dirty mouth. In the process I also learned something - apparently red sand is legal on Illium, but they didn't sell it here anyway. She was a lot more forceful than other asari I'd met, at least when it came to threats. I told her I'd look into this, and she took one look at my genuine armour and weapons and decided I was actually the real deal. I told Conrad not to do anything stupid while I was gone, and hoped he'd actually listen this time. We left the bar, Miranda giving me a glare and telling me we didn't have time for this. I looked at the clock on my omni-tool display and she was right, but I really didn't want him to get hurt, even if he deserved it.

We jogged over to the 'undercover cop' he mentioned, who turned out to be a weapons dealer, legitimate for once. I mentioned Conrad, and she automatically assumed I was as stupid as he was. I was a little insulted, but it got her to expose a weakness. She apparently really wanted the bar, and knowing that the owner turned on the security cams, I told her everything was ready, she just needed to seal the deal in person. She seemed surprised, and set up a discount for me at her kiosk before almost running towards Eternity. I just rolled my eyes at the blindness greed induces, before checking out her stock. Nothing really stood out, but I bought a few upgrades that could come in handy later when there was time to replicate and install them. After closing the kiosk, I decided now would be a good time to head back and check out the results of my actions.

W arrived just in time to see the weapons dealer being arrested with the owner looking on. The dealer protested that she had been told they would sell as she was dragged off, catching my eye just once as she was shoved through the door. She tried to shout something, but the door was already closed and I couldn't hear her through the music. Conrad looked really confused, so I came up with a quick lie that he'd probably believe. I told him that she wasn't a cop but a deep-cover terrorist, and that I'd have never caught her without his help. Then, with all the sincerity I could muster, I told him to give up being hero and go home to his wife. He agreed sullenly, but he'd probably thank me later when he lived to tell his wife he'd met me again. The bartender thanked me for not having to make her beat Conrad to death with his own spine, before she introduced herself as Aethyta, matriarch and bartender. I asked her why she was here instead of high government, since most matriarchs were honoured advisors among their people. She replied simply that she gave advice here now, since she had left Thessia in disgust after being ridiculed for her views. She then said her father was a krogan, and her mother had fought in the Krogan Rebellions, so she'd pretty much seen it all. Well, the krogan father might explain why she had such an interesting method of speech. I asked her if she'd set me up with a drink and she poured me one on the house, non-alcoholic by request. She also said she'd set up a tab for future use, and warned me not to eat the nuts in the red bowls, they were for dextros only. I took the drink and gulped it down, to another consternated look from Miranda. I finished the drink and told her to take us to her contact.

She took us to a private room near the back, populated by a single asari leaning against the window. She went straight to Miranda and said there had been a complication. Miranda was immediately concerned for her sister Oriana, but Lanteia said it was to do with a man named Niket. He'd informed her that Eclipse mercs were making a large sweep, very likely in the employ of Miranda's father, and he'd requested to escort the family personally. I was wary of a change like this given the information I had, so I asked Miranda if she trusted Niket enough to do this. Niket was her oldest friend, and when Lanteia suggested bringing in her other contacts on Illium, Miranda outright refused, saying Niket was the only one she trusted with her sister now. I asked what the new plan was going to be then, and Miranda said that the Eclipse probably had orders to watch for her, so we would act as a distraction. I sighed, wondering once more about how I managed to look like I wanted to get shot at all the time. I asked if it was worth giving Niket any armed backup, seeing as I still had some capable crew back on the _Normandy_. Miranda declined, saying it would make him too much of a target. I nodded, and Lanteia said she had a car waiting just outside the bar we could use to get to the shuttle terminal where the transfer was about to take place. As we walked out Miranda said she appreciated me going out of my way, because while she hadn't planned on the Eclipse, they hadn't planned on me.

We got in the waiting aircar that Lanteia had provided, Miranda taking the controls and piloting us towards a busy shuttle terminal. She informed myself and Mordin that Niket would be taking Oriana and her family through the cargo areas to avoid detection or interception, and we would rendezvous with them just before they got to the shuttle reception area. It sounded like a good idea, but it went south fast when we spotted Eclipse gunships travelling alongside us. Miranda put us down at the entrance of the cargo level, several floors down and on the other side of the complex from out original target. As we went down, Miranda said with a flash of jest that she hoped they wanted her alive, something that proved slightly untrue when bullets started ricocheting on the chassis. It stopped a little while later when the leader recognised our driver, but the damage was already done to the car. We managed a rough landing and got out; coming face to face with one of the least attractive men I'd ever met.

Miranda started the conversation, saying he obviously knew who she was. He replied that she was the bitch who kidnapped his boss' baby daughter. Miranda countered that with a warning to leave before the shooting started. He just said that while he was here, his captain Enyala was moving on Niket, who wouldn't be helping us. While I was all ready to kick his ass, something he said really threw me. I turned to Miranda and asked why he said 'baby' when referring to Oriana. She looked down with embarrassment, guilt, shame? I couldn't tell, but she eventually said again that Oriana was her genetic twin, they just didn't have the same birthday. Asshat asked if she really thought she could get away with stealing a baby from the richest man in the galaxy. I definitely had more pointed questions for Miranda later, but right now, this ugly man was in my way. I told him so, and that there were two ways to leave this situation, dead or alive. He gave me some attitude, thinking he and his two-bit gunslingers stood a chance against three highly-trained agents, so I picked 'dead' for him. I gave him a solid punch to the face, stunning him long enough for me to turn him around and use as a human shield for a sec while I gauged the distance of his support shooters, before snapping his neck. Miranda spent the time unloading her SMG into the nearest merc, while Mordin laid down some suppressing fire. There were three enemies I could see, a salarian in the middle distance and two humans further out. There was an explosive tank on a crane above them, so I used my Phalanx to shoot out the support anchors and make it fall right on top of them, Mordin adding the spark with his incendiary tech blast to make two mercs roast, while I finished my thermal clip by firing the last shot between the merc salarian's massive eyes.

Once they were all dead, I turned to Miranda, not even needing words to convey how much I disliked being left in the dark. Before I could say anything, or make her say anything, Mordin reminded us both that our position was likely compromised and we needed to get moving if we wanted to ensure Niket and Oriana's safety. We shot our way through to the nearest elevator, but it would only take us halfway to the shuttle terminal, we needed to take another route. Just before we got into the elevator, Miranda walked over to a merc still bleeding on the ground and pulled out his radio transceiver, getting the frequency just in time for us all to hear the dispatcher confirm the death of the squad we killed on this level. As the doors closed and the elevator began its vertical journey, I decided now was a good time to press Miranda for information she had withheld earlier. I didn't give a damn if it was her sister, no mission should involve a team that doesn't have all the necessary intel. She saw the look on my face and said she was sorry she didn't tell me sooner about the fact that whist Oriana was identical on a genetic level, she was not her actual twin. She'd been grown after Miranda became a teenager, as a replacement. When I asked, she said that Oriana was almost nineteen, and that it didn't seem relevant at the time she'd told me. She was understandably protective of her sister, and didn't trust easily. I had a sudden epiphany then about how much of a risk she had taken when she had confided this information to me. I was about as anti-Cerberus as they come, and if I was anyone else I probably would have used this situation as leverage.

After a pause, she continued that she and her sister weren't the first ones to be grown, they were just the first to be kept. I didn't want to think too long on the fate of the other girls that hadn't met her father's approval. She said that growing up with him meant a life without friends and constant impossible demands, not a place for any child to grow up. She'd made sure that her sister had a normal life, and would fight to the death to keep it that way. I asked her once again about her trust in Niket, because with the Eclipse knowing we were coming, this would get a lot harder. She said he was the only person she had left from her old life, and she trusted him with hers when she ran away. If there was anyone who knew her father enough not to betray her to him, now or ever, it was Niket. I could hear the sincerity in her voice, but something about this still had me wary of Niket's safety. Mordin leaned against the wall nonchalantly, either not caring or not even listening to our conversation. Miranda patched us into the Eclipse frequency just as the doors opened and revealed the cargo processing yard. Miranda said that we'd have to get to the elevator on the other side of the yard to get to the rendezvous point with Niket.

As we fought our way through, we heard Enyala's voice telling everyone except her personal guard to intercept us, as Niket was nearing the terminal. Those words sent Miranda to a whole new level, throwing mercs and mechs around like leaves in the wind. Not to say that Mordin and myself didn't take out our fair share, but Miranda was like a predator among helpless prey, killing without mercy or compunction. As we got near the elevators EDI came over the comm. unit said that they'd tried to delay us by disabling the code, but she would have it overridden by the time we were at the door. We took out the final mercs on this level, at least the ones brave enough to face us, and waited for the door. Enyala came over again, saying that Niket had reached the transport depot, and would be handing Oriana and her family to the Eclipse. Miranda's face was emotionless, but I couldn't imagine the news would do anything but shock her. Just as the doors opened she finally managed a small denial of Niket's betrayal.

We went in, Miranda suddenly taking a leaf out of Mordin's book and enunciating every thought that came to her, attempting every possible angle to try and deny Niket had betrayed her. Eventually she slammed her omni-tool into the elevator's control interface in an attempt to make it go faster. The look on her face was one of total defeat, so I knew I had to probe gently here or I'd be her next target of opportunity. When I asked if Niket knew the details about Oriana, she said that she'd only told him recently, but she was less sure when she said that he would understand. He didn't betray her when she ran the first time, why would he betray her now? Now, I usually tried to believe the best in people, but you could never really know a person entirely, and all the answers were waiting for the doors to open.

When they did open it was to see three people, one man and two asari. The man was obviously Niket, as one of the asari was dressed in a working uniform and the other wearing Eclipse armour. Niket took one squinting look and recognised Miranda, shocked to see her. Enyala smiled like a cat whose come across a mouse, taking a disturbingly large shotgun off her back. The other asari looked quickly at the shotgun in Enyala's hands and the various weapons we were sporting, and decided now was the time for a speedy exit. Enyala gave her a different kind of exit by shooting her in the back, sending her flying heavily into a wall, a sickening hole where her torso used to be. Miranda hadn't been watching apparently, as she pulled her gun on the unarmed Niket, accusing him of selling her out. I didn't want to interfere in this one, because I wasn't the one with the history.

Niket didn't seem to fazed by the fact there was a gun pointed at him, even in the hands of very angry woman. Miranda's face was the personification of pain as she asked him why he'd done it, without even giving her a chance to explain. He countered that he deserved to know she'd stolen a baby. She justified that it wasn't stealing, but rescuing, and I tended to side with her given what she'd told me. He asked if it was a rescue if it was from a life of wealth and happiness, or just Miranda getting back at her father. I decided to butt in here, saying that whatever else was going on, he was trying to force the girl away from the only family she'd ever known. He said that her father could give her a better life, and Miranda shouted at him that he had no idea what her father had in store for Oriana. He narrowed his eyes, and there was venom in his voice as he said that he knew what it was like to grow up poor, and he didn't much care for it. She asked him what had caused him to turn on her, and he said that after she'd done it, her father had tried for years to buy him, telling him what Miranda had done. He never believed it, until she told him herself, and then he called her father back pretty much straight away, because he felt he deserved to know. He hung his head when he said that he'd been paid an obscene amount to give Oriana back to her father.

Though I didn't really think it was possible, I wanted to hope there was a peaceful solution to be found here. I said that since Miranda's father knew Oriana's location, we needed a new solution. She lowered her weapon slightly, but Niket said quickly that her father didn't know anything, the only person who had all the details was him, since that was part of his deal for Oriana's transfer. Miranda said that meant he was the only loose end, and that she would miss him. I knew what she was about to do, but I was too late to stop her pulling the trigger and shooting Niket right in the chest. I got a last look at his face as he looked down at the bleeding wound in his chest, and it wasn't the look of shock at most people had when they're shot for the first time, it was something more akin to acceptance. I would have tried to apply some medi-gel, but that was the time that Enyala pulled on her trigger as well, and I happened to be the target this time. Miranda just gave an animalistic shout of rage as she levitated the asari and then launched her to the far side of the terminal, one of the most terrifying displays I'd ever seen from the woman.

I didn't have a lot of time to react, as I needed to take cover whilst I reactivated my barrier. Mordin took cover nearby, whereas Miranda just stood in the open, using her biotics and her weapons to kill anyone stupid enough to take her on right now. I'd said before she was not a woman to cross, and this was a perfect reminder of that. I blasted away a merc who thought she was being sneaky and trying to flank me, giving her a taste of my shotgun. Soon, it was down to only Enyala and the three of us, and she was a hell of an opponent when she wasn't surprise attacked like before. Her shotgun was every bit as dangerous as it looked, blasting away massive chunks of the scenery every time she missed, and shooting away shields and barriers in one hit when she connected. It took the three of us flanking her to eventually overwhelm her, before Mordin finished her off with a shot in the back that sprayed the front of her torso with blood. She fell to the ground, coughing up blood and saying something incomprehensible. I went over to Niket to see if there was a chance we could save him, but even before I reach down to feel for a pulse I knew he was dead. His eyes were open and vacant, and anyone whose seen enough death knows that means they are beyond help, well, unless you're me, but that's a one-off case. I closed his eyes as Miranda joined me, and the look on her face spoke more to me than anything I'd heard from her in the last two weeks. She walked towards the elevator, reminding us that Oriana was still potentially in danger until she was physically on the shuttle.

As we got into the elevator to take us to the shuttles one level up, Miranda turned to the corner and mused aloud that she couldn't believe that Niket had betrayed her, and she didn't see it coming because she let it get personal. I told her that she was still human, and so was Niket, and we are all imperfect beings. She turned to me, seeking some answer from me as she mused that Niket didn't try and stop her, he just stood there as she pulled the trigger. I tried to console her by saying that maybe he was feeling guilty, and perhaps it was his attempt to atone, but I didn't really feel it. Miranda didn't either, because she said angrily that if he wanted to atone he should have tried to fix it, not commit suicide. I had to admit the whole situation sucked, but I tried to make sure she wasn't blaming herself for it. She concluded in the end that it wasn't her fault, or even Niket's really; it was her father's fault entirely. Everything had a catch with him, even Niket as it turned out. She said she should have just cut him out like she had everything else in her life; it was a weakness she shouldn't have allowed. I told her that casting aside everything isn't a healthy thing to do and she replied strangely that she was hurt, not broken, and that even this attempt by her father to make her what he wanted would fail, because she was her own person, and always would be. I told her that she still had her sister, and she said that she'd taken her, she wasn't given one, but she smiled a little in spite of herself.

As the door opened to the shuttle terminal, we looked for any sign of Eclipse mercs, but it looked like we'd either killed them all, or they'd retreated for now. Either way, the coast was clear. As we looked around, Miranda made a little gasp, and she pointed to a group of people and said her sister was just over there, back turned to us. She said that Oriana was safe now, with her family, like it should be, and her voice sounded wistful and longing, like she was looking in at something she'd never be able to have for herself. She started to turn around and I caught her by the shoulder and asked if she was really going to go through what we'd just done and not even talk to her. She replied with a strained voice that it wasn't about what she wanted; it was about what was right for Oriana. I resisted the urge to slap her out of her silliness and told her that she didn't necessarily need the details, but would it really be so bad for Oriana to know she had a sister who loved her, before I literally shoved Miranda in that direction. I led Mordin over to get a drink at the bar while we waited.

For someone who was reluctant to even talk to her, Miranda spent the next half hour talking to Oriana, while I just enjoyed my drink and Mordin went to work on his omni-tool. As Oriana and her family finally got on the shuttle, I found Miranda walking in our direction, eyes tearing up; a rare display of emotion from the usually stoic woman. She said only 'thank you' before I called a cab, since our ride in was probably still smoking in the cargo area several floors below. The ride was spent in silence as we made our way to the trading floor near the _Normandy_. As I paid the fare and we got out, Miranda said softly that she was going to her office to process everything, and I just let her go, not even wanting to imagine the conflicting emotions she must be experiencing. I apparently had good timing, as I met Garrus and Tali coming towards us, laden with goods. Mordin and I walked up and took some off their hands and escorted them back to the _Normandy_. As the four of us unpacked everything into the dextro fridge, Garrus asked me innocently if I had been to talk to Liara yet. I must have frozen then, though I doubt anyone except Tali and Garrus noticed. Mordin just seemed to be in his own little world, mumbling to himself as he packed stuff before heading back to his lab.

Garrus and Tali were obviously waiting for an answer, so I dragged them both to the forward battery so I could speak to them in private. I told them that I was terrified of talking to Liara again, because while the rest of the galaxy had moved on after my death, Liara and I loved each other; and it wasn't exactly fair to her if I came in expecting her to still love me like she had before. I was scared that she'd be repulsed by what I'd become, that I'd been turned into a crime against nature. There were so many things that I was afraid of, but it spoke of the calibre of Garrus and Tali, the strength of their friendship and loyalty, that they really helped to reassure me - at least to the point where I felt brave enough to talk to Liara if they would accompany me. Tali said with a chuckle they'd be insulted if I tried to stop them coming as well.

Feeling better, I came out of the forward battery just in time to see Gardner getting dinner ready, since it was rapidly approaching evening on Illium, and it was standard protocol to amend ship time to local standard where applicable when landed. As the smell of cooking wafted in my direction, I made an announcement to the crew that I'd be screening the next movie of my choice in the cargo hold tonight, so I'd like some volunteers down there in about 30 minutes to help set up. It meant however that I needed to get up to my cabin and take off my armour, have a shower, and actually select a movie to watch. I quickly grabbed the sheet off the wall as I went and looked at the list as the elevator went up. A few more titles had been added to the list, but there had been a lot of markings around the Citadel title, so I decided why not give it a shot? After showering and organising the cargo area, which went much faster when it wasn't just me doing it, I decided to check in with Miranda, see if she was ready for company yet.

I pressed the signal button and the door opened with its mechanical clunking, revealing Miranda sitting in one of the chairs in her office, looking out the window as the sun set on Illium's horizon. She didn't bother turning around as she said thanks again, reminding me, and possibly herself, that Oriana wouldn't be safe without my help. It was hard to characterise her voice as she said I had proven myself trustworthy, unlike Niket. There was no small trace of bitter enjoyment as she said she was glad she was the one to take him out. I asked her if that was trying to convince me, or convince herself, and she replied that she would have liked to convince Niket. She mused aloud that she still didn't understand why Niket had done what he had, but she regretted it ended the way it did, even though she'd done what was necessary. I didn't know what I'd have done in her stead, it was so far beyond what I'd ever imagined happening to me.

I asked her what would happen with Oriana now, and she replied that her sister had exactly what she wanted her to have; a normal life and the freedom to choose. Her tone of voice reminded me that this wasn't just about Oriana, but also Miranda as well, trying to give her sister what she had never had. I asked what they had talked about, even though it seemed highly personal. Miranda turned in her chair and gave me an appraising look, before saying she'd merely introduced herself. The parents were understandably shocked, but Oriana wasn't that perturbed, and had apparently adjusted quickly. Miranda said she was as smart as she was, high praise indeed coming from a 'perfect' woman. Oriana was a violinist, and apparently the two of them shared a love for the adagio movement of Nielsen's Fifth. The last part wasn't particularly surprising, as several studies showed that twins who developed separately often developed similar tastes and mannerisms. Miranda said Oriana wanted to work in colony development, even telling a joke about it, highlighting the fact that her sister was apparently funnier than she was. I briefly imagined what it would be like if Miranda suddenly developed a sense of humour, but I honestly couldn't imagine her other than how she was. I asked if she was going to keep in contact now, and she replied that she honestly hadn't thought that far ahead for the first time in her life. She wasn't going to make up her mind soon in either case, she had to focus on the mission and Oriana needed time to adjust to her new life. I walked in front of her so I could look her in the eye as I told her that if she ever needed my help again, I was always willing. She said she could handle it from here, but she wouldn't soon forget that her sister was safe because of me.

I took the hint and left her to watch the final rays of sunlight give way to the glittering skyscrapers of the night, but not before asking her if she was coming down to watch the movie tonight. She didn't give me an answer, so I left her, checking up on what was happening in the mess nearby. Gardner was once again whipping up another culinary delight, and beside him was someone I never expected to see cooking: Garrus. He had apparently been given a recipe for a quarian soup, and Tali had somehow convinced him to do it, but he wasn't forthcoming with the details. The woman in question was standing nearby, nodding appreciatively at Garrus' messy efforts. I sidled up to her and asked what she had on him that would get him into a kitchen, and she whispered that she had found his porn stash and threatened to tell Joker about it. I bit down hard on my hand to stop myself bursting into tears laughing. Once I was able to speak again, even though my ribs now felt like I had been punched by a krogan, I told her she was one of the most devious and conniving women I'd ever had the pleasure to meet. She just bowed to me like a student to their teacher and said she had learned from the best, before we both broke into giggles.

After a very enjoyable dinner, all of the crew except the night shift watch were assembled down in the cargo hold with their popcorn. I announced to everyone that due to popular demand, tonight's feature would be Citadel, starring yours truly. This comment got some cheers and laughs, before we settled in and watched. I'll admit, I'd seen a few films like it before, and this one wasn't too bad. It began just after the Council had made me a Spectre, and while it skipped a few important points, like the Thorian on Feros and the rachni queen on Noveria, it was a mostly correct account, even if the scriptwriters felt the need to make Alenko openly gay, ignore the romantic tension with Liara and downplay my own biotic talents. One thing I was impressed about was the actress who played me. She apparently took some serious training for the role, enough to convince me she might actually make a half-decent soldier on the field. She also played me seriously, because even I'd admit I'm a character that could have been done badly in so many ways. As an entertaining film it certainly passed, but it was a long way from historically accurate, but you take what you get with these things.

The crew seemed entertained by it, though Jack walked away after only ten minutes. As she left I could see that Miranda had decided to join us after all, even if it was just to hang around at the back. Looking at Garrus, Joker and Tali I could see they all had the same mixed feelings about it as I did, probably complaints about their specific character portrayals. I told everyone as they started to filter away that I'd be putting up a new sheet for the next movie night, though not going so far as to set a date. As everyone walked away to their various stations or bunks, I waited down there with the remnants of the old crew. They all had the same question on their minds: what did I think of the film? I said it was entertaining, but that's about all. Satisfied, they allowed me to retreat to my cabin to get ready for the morrow.

Alone with my thoughts, I can already feel my insecurities starting to build about talking to Liara tomorrow. So much has changed; will we even be able to look at each other the way we used to?


	14. Things Best Left Unsaid

**A/N:** This chapter, while light on missions, goes to a very dark place at the end, not the shiny ending that the mission actually has. I tried to get more realistic psychology-wise, which meant that I had to inject a whole lot of angst. But I mean seriously, this is a journal, and Liara drops the equivalent of a planet-killer WMD on you with this mission.

Chapter 13 – Things Best Left Unsaid

April 19, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Tasale System, Crescent Nebula

Docked in Nos Astra, Illium

Wow. That one word can pretty much sum up my day. No it can't actually, because it doesn't even begin to describe just how exactly stupefied I was. I've also come to regret only one thing about my new body - I can't get drunk enough anymore. In my old life, I could just drink until I forgot what had happened that day. Now, I'd have to drink enough to almost kill me to have the same effect. But like all stories, this one needs to start at the beginning.

After my usual morning routine, I told Garrus and Tali to meet me at the airlock, because we were going to see Liara. Ten minutes later we were strolling through the morning at the Nos Astra trading floor, heading to the office we had been directed to yesterday, one that overlooked everything. Oddly appropriate for an information broker to be able to see over everything, yet rarely be observed herself. We walked up the stairs to find a mauve asari behind a desk. She rose and greeted us, saying that Liara would be pleased to see the three of us. She introduced herself as Nyxeris, Liara's assistant, and when asked she said that she often found new leads or supplemental data for Liara. Her boss had set herself up well in a short amount of time, building a network of contacts and creating a wide-reaching reputation and power base, though she sometimes neglected power in pursuit of her own agenda. Nyxeris said it was an honour to work for her, and something about her tone of voice told me that Nyxeris either idolised Liara, or was putting on an act. She said Liara was waiting for me right behind the door, before sitting down and returning to her own work.

I opened the door and found Liara's back to me as she talked to a holographic human. I was about to turn around and wait until she was finished when her words actually filtered their way into my mind. She was intimidating the human with the same speech her mother Benezia had given my team and I on Noveria, in an uncanny impersonation of her voice as well; to the point where if I didn't know better, I would have said it was Benezia back from the dead. She finished off the call with a threat to pay or be flayed alive by her mind, before severing the connection.

She turned around and the snarl visible on her face was slightly terrifying, even if it disappeared as soon as she saw me. In that moment she changed from the hard information broker back to the sweet girl I had met on Therum. She told Nyxeris to hold her calls and then enveloped me in a tight embrace, planting a soft kiss on my lips. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feel of her smooth skin on mine, a feeling I'd missed more than I realised when I gave a barely audible whimper as she broke the kiss. She looked me in the eye and said softly that her sources had said that I was alive, but she didn't finish the sentence, she just let me go and went back behind her desk. My insecurities began creeping back in, wondering why she needed to separate herself from me, even unconsciously. What had I done?

Garrus made a facial gesture that translated into a human eyebrow raise and repeated the word 'sources' in a disbelieving tone. She turned to him and said she had sources, contacts, even some hired muscle. The girl I'd known definitely didn't have that; Liara had grown up a lot in the last two years. She continued that it had paid the bills for the last two years, obviously avoiding mentioning my death. She turned to me and stated I was back now, gunning for the Collectors with Cerberus. I said if she knew that much, then she knew I could use her on my crew again. She looked away from me, perhaps guiltily, and said that she couldn't do that right now, she had things she needed to take care of. I asked her if she was in some kind of trouble, and she said she wasn't, but two years had left her with debts to repay.

She looked back up at the three of us and some thought must have occurred to her. Her gaze lingered over Tali as she said she did need an expert hacker she could trust for something. She needed us to disable security at certain servers to get some data she could use. She'd have done it herself, but she had to keep up appearances in her office. She kept avoiding looking at me for too long, and there was a slight strain in her voice that told me something was going on that she wasn't telling us. I asked her to tell me, to trust me, and the hurt in her voice as she said angrily that she wanted to was heartbreaking. She said softer that this was Illium, and we were probably being recorded even then. It kind of reminded me a little of the current situation on the _Normandy_, having to be careful with what I said and did in case it was caught on camera. She was giving me as much as she could right now, and I think we both knew that it killed the other that we couldn't be somewhere private to talk properly.

I asked what she needed us to do, and she said that she needed us to hack specific security nodes around Illium. Hacking them wouldn't get the data in itself; it would just create a glitch with a window for us to slice into hidden data caches in nearby servers. She was taking an incredible risk by doing this, as she was leaving her own system vulnerable so she could import the data. She gave us a map to where the three security nodes were, and she said that this might help her repay a great debt. I gave her one last look, before saying we'd be back shortly.

The three of us went to the location she'd given us, Tali and Garrus both resolutely avoiding mentioning the tangible tension that had been in that office. My own feeling was that after the initial joy of seeing me alive again, she had begun to realise that she shouldn't be happy like she was, and I should be six feet under. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, so I was glad to put my mind to other things once we'd reached the area she'd sent us to. There were the three security nodes within sighting distance of each other, so we could probably hit all of them simultaneously. I sent Garrus to the east one, Tali to the south one and I took the west one. The hack itself might have been harder if it hadn't been for the programs that Tali had given me, given that hacking wasn't really in my skill set. Once the firewalls had been broken, my omni-tool gave me a vague area that the vulnerable server was in. I walked north and only got further away, so I went south until I found it, and uploaded the server's info to Liara's system, just after Tali and Garrus had radioed to me that they were finished.

We walked back to Liara's office and she greeted us again, but not nearly as warmly as the first time, more like business partners than friends. She said that the data I'd gotten for her led to some interesting intel on some of the Shadow Broker's agents on Illium. I remembered that the Shadow Broker was not an enemy to be crossed lightly, so I asked her if she was on the run from him. She cocked her head and replied that the opposite was closer to the truth. She'd crossed paths with him just after my death, and had been working to take him down ever since, and this data brought her one step closer. I probed for more details, and she said that whilst she had been doing a job with a friend, the Shadow Broker had captured them. She escaped, but he didn't, and she didn't know if he was dead or still being interrogated. However, she owed him her life, and needed to make the Shadow Broker pay either way. I offered to help her, take her with me on the _Normandy_, but she just said that this wasn't the kind of hunt I could help with. She needed to find leads, trace information, to work, and she couldn't do that on my ship. I nodded with professional understanding, but I could see the veiled implication that she couldn't be on the _Normandy_ because of me.

I asked her how the data I'd gotten helped her, and she said it had given her a target. While the Shadow Broker had many agents on Illium, the most powerful one was known as the Observer. Taking that agent down would bring her one step closer to their boss, her ultimate target. I asked her what she needed me to do, and she said that the data I'd gotten her hinted at logs kept by Shadow Broker agents. While the logs themselves had more than likely been deleted, it might be possible to reconstruct the data to pinpoint the identity of the Observer. The agents she had been able to identify in the data had no names attached, just race and titles, if that sometimes. Nyxeris came in and said that she'd managed to narrow it down to five suspects. There were no specifics other than that, and if we waited too long, they'd all disappear. In my naivety I asked if it was worth interrogating one, but it was Garrus who replied that criminal networks like this could disperse quickly if they discovered they were compromised. Liara said she could handle the violence if it came to that, but we needed the evidence first. I got up to leave, and she asked me to call her on the radio channel we used in the old days when I had something. I made a small mental note that she didn't say it out loud, obviously not trusting her assistant with this.

The three of us went back out into the trading floor, Tali more than earning her position by finding and reconstructing most of the logs. After we'd found all there was to find, including one hidden in Eternity, we reviewed them. As I read I thought something was fishy, but Garrus said it aloud before I did, his detective training and experience giving him the edge. He said that all the agents that Nyxeris had mentioned had been male, but the logs we had suggested the Observer was female. Puzzled, I read through everything just to double check, and he was right, the Observer was female. I punched in the frequency I used to use and called Liara. I told her what we'd found, and she seemed just as puzzled as I was. I asked her who'd given her this lead, and she quickly replied that Nyxeris had. She repeated the last sentence slowly, as if coming to a realisation I did not. She called out to Nyxeris with a falsely sweet voice, before whispering to meet her later as she closed the channel. Understanding dawned on Garrus and myself at the same time, that the woman masquerading as Liara's assistant was the Observer.

One look between the two of us and we started running towards Liara's office, Tali a few steps behind us. As we ran I realised it was the perfect cover, Nyxeris was able to monitor how close Liara was to the Shadow Broker, and be able to feed her distraction and misinformation. We arrived to find Liara sitting at her old assistant's desk like nothing was the matter. She looked up at us, and seeing Tali walking towards the closed door to her office, said that we probably didn't want to go in there right now. Looking closer at Liara I could see little spots of blood on her dress, characteristic of medium-to-high velocity spatter, and I reiterated to that Tali we really probably didn't want to go in there right now.

Liara said that Nyxeris had had some interesting data hidden away, before handing me a credit chit, saying she was also well-compensated. I checked the value and thought to myself that well-compensated was a euphemism in this case. I remembered Barla Von back on the Citadel, just an agent and yet incredibly wealthy, and it occurred to me that working for the Shadow Broker was a pretty sweet deal, if you liked money and had no scruples. Garrus had now noticed the blood on Liara's dress, as well as some around on the walls, and asked her how the fight went. Liara replied that Nyxeris had been talented, and had she been ordered to kill her, she'd never have seen it coming. Unfortunately for Nyxeris, she needed to work on her barriers, but she wouldn't be getting any practice now. The fight had apparently ruined her office though, and it would take at least a day to get professionals to clean it. Needless to say, she'd be working from her assistant's desk for the time being. I was about to ask why it would take so long, before I realised that by 'professional,' she meant the kind who didn't ask questions about why there was a dead body. Actually, more than likely there would be no body but lots of blood, given Liara's talents, but nevertheless they would be paid very well not to ask such questions and forget the day very quickly.

I asked Liara what she would do now, and she said that with Nyxeris' data, she had a lot to sift through. She would gather more information, peel away lies and shine light into the shadows. And when she found him, she'd hit him with a biotic field so strong what was left would fit into a coffee cup, slapping the desk with her hand for emphasis. She was really worked up about this, and I could see that she was only a few steps away from becoming like Zaeed. It worried me – I cared about her too much to see her end up like that or worse, since the average asari would live ten times longer than a human. I asked her why she was like this, to talk to me just this once.

She stood up and turned away from me again, asking if anyone had told me yet how Cerberus had obtained my body. I didn't reply, thinking this was just one more detail that they had decided wasn't worth mentioning. As my silence grew, she quietly said that she was the one who'd given me to them. I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped at that point, but I was a little beyond conscious control. I defy anyone to not be shocked to the core if they learned that not only had their body, their dead body, been used as an experimental test bed for human reanimation by one of the most despicable organisations in the galaxy, but also that the person they loved most had been the one to give it to them.

Liara didn't turn around but her talking speed increased as she said that Cerberus had given her hope, but she'd first had to take my body from the Shadow Broker, who was trying to sell it to the Collectors. Garrus told me later I asked why she hadn't said something before, but I don't remember speaking. She said that she'd screwed up, barely escaped and gotten her friend caught in the process. She had known then that Cerberus would use me for their own goals and she'd let it happen anyway, because she couldn't let me go. I remember her turning around and begging me to forgive her, tears in her eyes, saying she didn't want me to hate her. I didn't know what to say, what to do, even what to think. You'd think I would have seen it all, that I couldn't be shocked anymore, but when I heard that all previous records were shattered. So many thoughts rushed through my head, but the only action I could do was sit there. Garrus said that he at least was glad Liara had done what she had, our mission was one that couldn't succeed without me. She said with renewed anger that the Shadow Broker had to pay, for her friend, for me, and for his dealings with the Collectors.

I remember mutely getting up, and Garrus obviously saw something in my look, because he quickly asked if there was anything more she needed from us. Liara choked a little as she said we'd done enough, and she'd contact us later if she needed us. I don't remember much after that, but the next thing I can recall is sitting down at the bar at Eternity.

Aethyta took one look at me and poured me a drink, no questions asked. I can't remember what it was, but it was alcoholic and it was strong, the only two qualities I was cared for just then. I kept emptying glasses as she put new ones in front of me, realisation after horrible realisation coursing through my brain with each drink. Liara had been so unstable after I died that she fought against the Shadow Broker, just to get my body. She'd given it to Cerberus, because in the moment she was most vulnerable, they'd given her the slimmest of hopes, and like a drowning man given the smallest string, she'd gripped with both hands until it hurt. Her avoidance of my gaze, the awkward tension between us, hadn't been because she was disgusted with me; it was because she was disgusted with herself. I was disgusted with myself. I was disgusted with her. I loved her because she wouldn't let me go, even after death. I wondered what I had done to deserve love like that in my life. She fought harder for me than anyone ever had since my parents. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever known, and yet the most inexcusable. I loved her, yet hated her at the same time, like I hated myself. As she must love and hate me for reminding her what she'd done for love.

Thoughts and drinks joined and divided and mixed until I was too numb from both to realise that I was no longer at the bar, but on the floor. Garrus and Tali had dragged me back to my cabin on the Normandy and given orders that I was not to be disturbed under any circumstances, on pain of prolonged torture, and death if you were lucky. I'm not sure if the last bit was true, but it felt good to hear it from them when I was sober enough to stand company again without a drink in my hand.

I don't know what to think anymore. The woman I loved more than anything did something desperate out of love, and that single action had changed the course of both our lives. Now I was alive again, and she was out for revenge against an enemy as substantial as smoke and mirrors. She wasn't the sweet girl I had met on Therum anymore; she was a woman hardened by loss and vengeance. I wasn't the pillar of human goodness anymore, I was working with an organisation so evil it made me feel like I was stained so badly I'd never be clean again. We were both different, and whatever had been between us had died with me. But maybe there is the smallest hope for us yet. Maybe we can move on, and start again, find something to reignite the love that had been. Or maybe I'm the one drowning now, looking for something to save me.


	15. No Rest for the Wicked

Chapter 14 – No Rest for the Wicked

April 20, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Tasale System, Crescent Nebula

Docked in Nos Astra, Illium

I really don't know how long I stayed in my cabin yesterday, but I woke up at a reasonable hour today to get something done. The odd contradictions I find within the crew amuse me slightly - the former detective turned vigilante. Alliance marines turned Cerberus operatives. Covert killers and medical savants in one. So it should come as no surprise that our latest addition is an assassin with a deep spiritual side.

I started by reading my messages this morning. Liara had sent me information on how to get in contact with Thane and Samara, saying she had been talking to Garrus and Tali whilst I was indisposed. She must have known what I'd done after leaving her office, and it wasn't exactly like I'd tried to hide it either. She probably saw Tali and Garrus carrying my semi-conscious form back to the _Normandy_. Slightly anxious to take my mind off the present, I picked one of the potential recruits at random, my finger resting on Thane's name. Liara had said that he had been seen talking to an asari named Seryna near the cargo processing levels earlier this morning, but had disappeared since. Well, it was a start, so I went down to get breakfast and assemble a team.

I picked Garrus and Grunt, since the massive krogan had been pacing in his cargo hold since Horizon and probably could use some fresh air. We made our way through the trading floor to the cargo processing area, Grunt only running into a few of the traders, none of whom seemed to want to pick a fight for some reason. When we finally found Seryna, she didn't even look up as I talked to her. She changed her tune when I mentioned Thane's name, turning to her co-worker and asking her to cover for her for a few minutes, and leading me away from her desk.

She said she knew him and had passed him some information, but she didn't hire him to kill her. She said something about him doing this to restore the balance of his life, but I didn't really understand. I told her I didn't care about that, I just wanted to find him. She said she'd tell me, but I wouldn't be able to stop him, he never gave up on a target. It finally came out that he was going after Nassana Dantius, a powerful asari on Illium. Seryna apparently used to work security for her, but was fired when she confronted her boss about the fact she killed people to keep secrets. Seryna said it was a shame, she might have been good enough at her job to stop Thane from killing her ex-boss. I replied that I remembered Nassana, she manipulated me into killing her sister two years ago. Seryna was a little shocked and said she thought that was only a rumour, but then I should know how crazy she is if that was the case. She warned me that Nassana had even more power on Illium than the Citadel, and she used it to keep her friends in check and her enemies dead.

I asked her where Thane would be heading, and she pointed to a pair of towers in the distance - the Dantius Towers, the penthouse of tower one. If Thane was as smart as she thought, he'd go in through the incomplete tower two and cross the bridge near the top. I asked her about the likely opposition and access points, and she said the closest she'd be able to get me was the ground floor of tower two, any higher and it was too much of a risk of getting shot down by the Eclipse mercs Nassana had hired for security. I'd only get one shot too, so I had better be ready to make it count. She added that Thane wasn't doing this for money, and I would provide valuable distraction so he could get a clear shot. She finished by saying that she wouldn't shed a tear when Nassana got what was coming to her, and I agreed that I wasn't going to either. I asked when we could go, and she said we'd have to wait until evening, when the shift workers left, to minimise collateral damage. I nodded in agreement, and went back to the trading floor.

I spent the next few hours until sunset reading reports and making sure the _Normandy_ was well-stocked and ready for anything. I then gave the crew some shore leave, sure that this would probably be one of the few times they were likely to get it. As night began to fall, Garrus, Grunt and myself walked back to Seryna's desk. She nodded to us, and we all walked to a waiting aircar, getting in and joining the flocks of others already filling the evening sky. As we flew, she asked me if I was trying to stop Thane, and I replied I was here to make sure he survived.

Seryna said she would drop us at the base of tower two, and that the easiest way would be to get up to the bridge connecting the towers, then head to the penthouse. Garrus noted that the mercs would likely fight us every step of the way, and Seryna replied that it would be easier, she didn't say anything about easy. I just said that hopefully, we would find him before it went that far. Seryna grabbed the controls and put us into a crazy dive, pulling up just before we smashed into the ground and letting us out. She gave us one last piece of advice - not to linger too long - before wishing us luck and taking off.

We could see through the glass doors and windows at ground entrance, giving us a view of what was happening inside. We saw several frightened salarians running, before green blood sprayed wildly and they fell, LOKI and FENRIS mechs coming into view a second later. I raised my Phalanx and shot the head off one of the bipedal mechs, the bullet shattering the glass in its path. That focused the mechs on us instead of the unarmed salarians, and it didn't take long for Grunt and Garrus to put down any mechs that escaped my pistol. I switched out for my new geth shotgun, deciding to give it its first combat trial in my hands. Tali had said before I'd left that she and Jacob had managed to scan it successfully, and were working on making enough for everyone. It felt heavier than my other shotguns, but it was an interesting shade of metallic purple, and it felt right in my hands.

The three of us combat ran into the building, weapons up and fingers on triggers. I heard a cough to my right and pivoted quickly on the spot, only to see a salarian leaning against the door, holding a bleeding wound in his side. I ran over and kneeled down as he rasped that he couldn't feel his legs. I asked him what had happened, and he said that he was just a night worker. Nassana had sent the mechs and her security mercs to clear the building, and they opened fire without warning. He didn't know why, other than Nassana wanted them out of the way, immediately, for some reason. He began coughing up blood, and I quickly applied some medi-gel to his wound. Grunt asked me why I was wasting my time on someone so weak, and I mentally reminded myself that Grunt was a krogan, and didn't have much in the way of compassion. The medi-gel worked its magic, and the salarian started to breathe easier, his bleeding stopped. He asked me to find and help the other workers, and I replied that I'd do what I could. I nodded to the door and Garrus opened it as I helped the salarian to his feet, making sure he was capable of walking away or contacting someone for proper help.

The three of us cleared the first floor of those stupid enough to get in our way, and I found myself falling in love with my new shotgun. It was like a dream come true, because after a few shots I knew the trajectories the projectiles would fire in, and like Tali said they had an ability to curve slightly towards a target, and the mass of the projectiles meant that I only needed one shot, even at decent range, to kill enemies. We found the only way to continue upwards was a ramp in an incomplete section. We walked up and found a room with two large air vents from above. I could hear the distorted echoes of two people talking at the other end, so I stopped to listen. They were both complaining about an assassin, before I heard the unmistakable sound of closed fists hitting bodies, with the associated grunts of pain and sudden breathlessness. A few seconds later, a body fell onto the floor, maybe not dead as he fell but definitely dead as he hit the floor head first. We continued on and shot our way through the mercs guarding this floor, and their mechanical flunkies as well. We quickly found an elevator on the floor, so we took it as far as it would go, about halfway up the tower.

The doors opened and we found only a few opponents on this upper level. We looked around for any signs of Thane's passing when I came across a locked door. I took the time to bypass the locking mechanism and the door slid open, revealing a small band of frightened salarians. One of them saw that I wasn't wearing Eclipse yellow and asked if I was here to help them. I replied it was one of the reasons I was here, before asking who had locked them in. The salarian replied that it wasn't a merc, and Garrus said in an undertone that it was odd to see an assassin being so altruistic. The salarian must have heard Garrus say assassin, because he said he must be after Nassana, saying that treating people like she did would always bite them in the ass in the end. I told them to head to the lower levels, where it was safer, and he said he would. He gave me a parting remark for me to tell Thane to aim for her head, because she didn't have a heart. Grunt looked puzzled at this idiom and I was as well, more for the fact that it was a salarian who used it, salarians not being known for displays of emotion or romantic embellishment like humans tended to be.

The only way to continue upwards was another elevator, and I pressed the call button. Garrus said we were exposed in our current position, especially if there was someone coming in the elevator, a high likelihood given our recent activities. I positioned the three of us to have a nice crossfire angle while minimising the chance for us to be taken out all at once, and I was glad I did. Just as the elevator reach the floor the building's synthesised female VI told us to have a pleasant day, before the doors opened to two angry Eclipse engineers and a pissed-off krogan. I quickly switched to my SMG and began whittling away the shields on the krogan, while I heard the loud retorts of Garrus and Grunt focusing their Mattocks on the nearest engineer. Eventually the humans went down and they both joined me in shooting the krogan, whose shields were now down but had thick armour. I saw a shot from Garrus' side shatter the eyehole in the krogan's helmet, and I aimed my shotgun there as well. I must had hit a good spot, because he fell slowly, as if his body was desperately trying to fight through the fact there was massive damage to his brain. I'd seen krogans in blood rage fight through wounds that would normally kill them, but they just don't have a redundant brain - yet.

As his body finally gave up after shooting his shotgun one last time in my direction, the three of us entered the elevator, glad it would take up to the top of the incomplete tower at last. As the elevator opened we could see a merc staring out of the window, talking on his radio. I stalked up behind him and just as he said he didn't need any reinforcements, I pressed the muzzle of my pistol into the back of his helmet. I told him to turn around slowly, and he just hung his head and said 'shit', before complying. I lowered my pistol to his chest and asked him where Thane was, sweetening the deal by telling him I might let him live if he was forthcoming. He just replied with attitude, saying that if he knew that, he wouldn't be wasting his time up here. I told him that I wasn't in a patient mood, pressing my pistol a little harder into his chest. His voice was a little more anxious as he said even if he did know, he wouldn't tell me, before saying he had nothing left to say and taking a step back from me. I stepped forward quickly and pushed with my biotics, sending him smashing through the floor to ceiling window and screaming into the night. I quipped 'goodbye' to his rapidly shrinking form, turning around to hear Garrus say that was harsh, but he did have it coming. I didn't voice the thought that it made bad tactical sense to leave an enemy behind you.

We went through a door and came to a large open room, several deactivated mechs around the place. I heard Nassana's voice coming loudly through a comm. system from the other end of the room, and someone talking to her. He said there had been reports of Thane on multiple levels, and he suspected he was using the ducts to travel unseen. Nassana shouted at him that he was paid to shoot, not think. Garrus obviously had a good shot at the merc, because he had out his sniper rifle and pulled the trigger, the loud sound bringing attention to us. The mercs took cover and activated the mechs, and the three of us had an interesting time taking them out, especially the asari vanguard that liked to use her shotgun to keep us at range and her biotics to mess with us.

Eventually they all went down, and we came across another door that had been locked. I opened it and found myself staring at the wrong end of a pistol. Whoever was holding it wasn't in their right mind though, because the gun was shaking more than a vibrator set on high. Garrus said calmly that he should put that gun away before he did something he would regret, and the voice that replied 'get back' was every bit as hysterical as I thought it would be. I raised my hands in that universal gesture of unarmed compliance, taking a step towards him and saying in a soothing voice that I didn't want to hurt him, I was here to help. As I finished speaking I grabbed the gun and quickly pointed it at the ceiling, where it would do no harm if he pulled the trigger. The salarian must have succumbed to the fatigue that always followed high-stress situations and fainted, another one of the salarians calling out 'Telon' and rushing over. He looked up at me and said this was his brother, and asked if I was the one who'd shot the merc. He pointed and I saw the body of the merc in question, most of the back of his head missing due to the gunshot he'd obviously sustained. There was a matching hole in the room's only window, probably from a high-powered rifle. The gun I was holding now must have been his, the salarian taking it once he was dead. I said that I'd killed a lot of merc today, but couldn't take credit for that one. I asked what happened and was told that the merc had shouted at them and threatened them, and then his head had just exploded, and they were too afraid to leave after that. Garrus said how impressed he was at the fact it was a perfect headshot with no collateral damage. I told them it should be safe enough to get to the lower levels now, and he said he didn't need convincing. Telon regained consciousness and asked pathetically if it was time to go home, and his brother helped him to stand, thanking me once more before leaving with his colleagues.

We went to the back of the room and found that Nassana was still shouting over the radio she had used before, berating her security for not responding. I told her they wouldn't be able to respond now, and she just cursed loudly at me. We took the last ramp and found ourselves in the open air at the top of tower two. The bridge was just around the corner, and we discovered an interesting fact about skyscrapers like this one: the winds at the top get extremely dangerous. Well, dangerous for anyone facing a biotic who knew how to make someone essentially weightless for a short period. We came to the bridge and discovered that Nassana was obviously tracking us, as she sent several waves of mercs at us and shouted at them to kill us, getting more hysterical each time they failed. Just as we came to the door to the penthouse out came an asari commando, dressed in full armour and with a strong personal barrier. It was almost like facing a krogan, the way she tossed us around with her biotics and took a ridiculous amount of fire before she finally died. Once she was dead, we had direct access to Nassana's penthouse.

We entered to find only four people there, Nassana herself and three Eclipse mercs: two humans and an asari. Nassana turned to the sound of the opening door and stared at me with open-mouthed surprise, saying I was dead. I quipped that I got better, and she said I was here to kill her. I told her she was paranoid, and she shouted at me not to patronise her. I rolled my eyes at the fact that her charm obviously hadn't faded, while she prattled on about how ironic it was I was here to kill her, since she'd manipulated me into killing her sister two years ago. She asked me what I was going to do now matter-of-factly, since I'd fought a small army to get here. Asking why she thought I was here to kill her, she questioned sarcastically if there was another reason for all the destruction I had caused to get here. I told her I was looking for someone and she actually laughed at me, and asked if I expected her to believe that. She told me to name my price so we could make this problem go away. I heard a faint bump from the ceiling, possibly the only one who did. I just crossed my arms and leaned back, telling Nassana that there was no amount of credits to make this problem go away.

She turned to me and asked me venomously what gave me the right to play God? She continued in a normal volume, but in a no less crazy tone of voice, that we weren't so different, we both killed people for money. I told her that unlike her, who killed people she thought were beneath her, I only killed people when they left me no choice. She then went into a full-blown rant that I didn't bother listening to, because the real action was going on behind her. Thane silently dropped from one of the ceiling vents and landed behind one of the humans, quickly snapping his neck and then delivering a fatal punch to the throat of the other human. Almost faster than I could follow, but with the grace and poise of a dancer, he pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the neck of the armoured asari, close enough that his pistol was inside her shield and the bullet hitting her in the neck. He turned quickly as she fell and caught Nassana as she stumbled into him, holding her over his shoulder like a lover while pushing the pistol into her torso and pulling the trigger, the sound and impact deadened by her body. He took her and laid her on her desk, placing her hands together over her wound as she exhaled one last time, before clasping his hands in a silent prayer. I blinked a few times at the deadly display, which had killed four people in mere seconds. Garrus finally mentioned that he certainly knew how to make an entrance. Thane hadn't moved since he had started praying, except for the slight movement of his lips.

I walked forward a few steps and introduced myself, and he said he was sorry, but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken. I looked down at the oddly peaceful body of the late Nassana Dantius and said she didn't deserve them, and he corrected me, saying the prayers were for him. He finished and said that the measure of an individual is hard to measure by actions alone. He gestured at me and said that I had caused a lot of chaos today, and he was curious to see how far I'd go to find him. He paused perfectly for drama, before saying 'here I am.' I had to give him points for theatricality. I asked him how he'd known I was here, and he said it wasn't hard because of the gunfire and explosions that seemed to follow me. He chastised that in his line of work, if he had to fight through guards he'd made a grave mistake, before giving me a look and saying he rarely made mistakes. His eyes were fascinating, different shades of dark forest green, almost black, surrounding his pupils. He turned away again to face the sunset in the window and said I had disrupted his plans, but that I'd proven useful in the end.

Unsure how to proceed, I told him I was impressed with his skills, and wanted him on my team. He merely nodded his head, so I asked him if he was familiar with the Collectors, and he said by reputation only. I told him they were behind the attacks on human colonies recently, like Freedom's Progress and Horizon, and he merely replied 'I see.' In the few minutes I'd known him, he had already shown me that he was eloquent and elegant when he wanted to be, but now it appeared that he could be stoic and a man of few words if he also chose. A man of many talents, which would be a useful addition to the mission we were about to undertake. I told him that I was planning to take the fight to the Collectors, and he changed into a man of incredibly insightful questions as he half-turned his head to me. He said that such a mission would require passing through the Omega-4 relay, something no ship had ever returned from. I told him I'd heard the stories, and I intended to prove that this wasn't a suicide mission. He repeated the words 'suicide mission' to himself, turning back towards the sunset and pausing for thought before saying that would do nicely. He said nothing more for a few seconds, and then revealed that he was dying. He turned to me quickly and said that low survival odds didn't concern him, but the abduction of human colonists did. I was a little stumped; what do you say to something like that? I asked if there was anything I could do, and he said giving him the opportunity to do some more good would be enough. He turned back towards the sunset and said the galaxy was a dark place, and he was trying to make it brighter before he died. He said innocents had tied today because he hadn't been fast enough, and he had to atone for that. He turned to me, hand outstretched, and as I shook he said he would work for me, no charge.

He lead the three of us to his aircar that he had used to get here, taking us to an apartment he had rented and grabbing two suitcases, which contained his belongings. After that we flew back to the trading floor and the _Normandy_. As we got out the sun was well below the horizon, and after the airlock permitted us inside I took my team towards the armoury. I showed Thane where he could store his weapons and he did so, taking a SMG and a sniper rifle from his bags and placing them in the racks provided. Garrus and Grunt went downstairs to eat, and Jacob joined me in the briefing room for the 'official' welcome. Jacob said he'd heard the stories about Thane, and he would be a real asset to the team. He also added, however, that that was only if you were comfortable with an assassin watching your back. Thane replied that he'd taken a contract, and his arm was mine to wield, and Jacob retorted that at least he was loyal to more than his next paycheck. I told Jacob that Thane was too, since he was doing this gratis, and asked he had against the assassin. Jacob said that he didn't like mercenaries, and an assassin was just a precise mercenary. Thane responded that an assassin is a weapon, the one who wields it is the true killer. He turned to me and said he'd like a place to store his things, preferably somewhere dry. EDI came up and said that the life support core was slightly more arid than the rest of the ship. Thane turned to the nondescript blue hologram and had the most calm response to an AI I've ever seen, bowing in thanks and leaving. EDI said he seemed quite civil, before turning off her avatar. I turned to Jacob and said to give Thane a chance, he might surprise him, and Jacob replied he might not, before leaving himself.

I shook my head at the ability of people to hold onto prejudice as I went up to my cabin to take off my armour and shower before getting something to eat. Once I had eaten my fill of the lovely spaghetti bolognaise that Gardner had prepared for the crew who hadn't gone on shore leave, I decided to pay Thane a visit. The life support core was right near the elevator on this deck, so I went in to find he had already set himself up nicely, a comfortable looking cot near the window to the drive core, and the drell himself currently sitting at a desk, hands clasped and looking into the distance. He blinked his eyes as I walked around until I could see his face and seemed to notice me, asking what he could do for me. I came right out and asked him what had been on my mind since he'd said it in the penthouse, asking him more about him dying. He looked up at my face and obviously saw concern, for he said I needn't worry, his disease wasn't contagious, even to other drell. He elaborated it was called Kepral's Syndrome, and it was a unique condition to drell.

Their homeworld of Rakhana was very arid, but when the hanar saved them from their dying homeworld, they relocated to Kahje, a world of endless oceans and constant rain. The drell's lung biology couldn't cope with the extra moisture, and so would eventually lose the ability to absorb oxygen, eventually suffocating them. I asked if there was a cure and he said there were no treatments available, but the hanar had started a program of genetic engineering to adapt the drell to Kahje's wetter conditions. He said matter-of-factly that the program was in its infancy, and he'd be long dead before he could reap the benefits. Slightly perturbed by this acceptance of his own death, I asked him how long he expected to live. He replied that he expected to survive another eight to twelve months, slightly less if he spent too much time in very moist environments. He said in the same dull, accepting tone that we'd either be victorious or dead by the time he could be incapacitated. Knowing that Chakwas and Mordin were both considered experts in their field, I asked if there was anything they could do to help him. His stare never wavered as he said that his condition was being attended to, and that if the brightest hanar minds in the Illuminated Primacy couldn't help him, then he doubted anyone on the ship could. He said with finality that he would be fine, that his condition wouldn't affect his performance, and that he would like some peace to meditate. I nodded respectfully and left, leaving him to return to the pose he was in before and stare sightlessly at the drive core.

I looked at the time display on my omni-tool, and found there were still a few good hours left in the evening before I should get some sleep. I decided to fill my time with some more target practice with the Mattock. I got Garrus and went up to get my gun and specialised ammo, before going back down to the loading bay to see the turian had already set up targets for me. I got set up and he said that I had a decent proficiency now, so I could use my visor to help me. I slid it on and activated it, scrolling through the functions until I came across one called 'target practice'. I selected the setting and turned to one of the targets, a humanoid in armour, holding a rifle. The visor picked up the target and I pulled up my Mattock to my shoulder. The visor registered the weapon and extended a thin holographic line from the muzzle, correcting for various factors to show the trajectory of the bullet when fired. I stood and aimed at the head of the nearest target, squeezing the trigger several times and seeing every one hit almost exactly where the visor had lined it up. I smiled and began practice in earnest, picking weak points and switching targets quickly, trying as much as possible to simulate real combat. After a gruelling 90 minutes I called it off, Garrus complimenting me on the rapid development of my skills. As we went back up in the elevator he asked me if I was going to use the Mattock for my next mission, and I told him I'd give it serious consideration.

After stowing the Mattock and heading back to my cabin to take off my armour, I decided to take another look at the email Liara had sent me. I had originally intended just to look at the information she had provided on Samara, but I discovered there was something more in the email. I scrolled further down and found that she had written a few personal paragraphs, telling me what I had already guessed. She'd had been given hope when she was vulnerable, but she reasoned that both then and now, I was the best hope the galaxy had against the Reapers. She knew what she'd done was wrong, but didn't it matter that it was done for the right reasons? She also asked me to forgive her, which I still wasn't sure I was capable of doing.

I'll see what tomorrow brings.


	16. Justice

**A/N**: A massive apology everybody for the extreme lateness of this chapter. Real Life has been eating away at my spare time in the last few months, first with getting a shiny new job, and then moving house. I'm only now able to find time to write again, and even that doesn't have as much time available as I'd like. Unfortunately, new chapters will also be much more sporadic, so please bear with me. I can only hope to finish this before ME3 rolls around in March (Super-excited about that, just to let you all know!).

Chapter 15 – Justice

April 21, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Tasale System, Crescent Nebula

I'm going to say it, being a Spectre is hard work sometimes. Having to decide how to arbitrarily pick who is right and wrong isn't easy, even on the Citadel. Out where the law is less clear and even less respected - places like Illium or Omega - the line between legal and illegal isn't obvious, and where to draw it is difficult to judge sometimes. Well, unless you're like my most recent recruit, who has a very different take on justice compared to the rest of the galaxy.

My day started with an email from Seryna, the woman who'd helped me yesterday by taking me to Dantius Towers. She said she was heading for a new life on a different planet, but was glad to know that Nassana got what was coming to her. She obviously realised that Thane had finished his work and survived, and that if she ever met him again, she'd owe him a drink. I smiled and then re-read the email Liara had sent me, carefully avoiding the last paragraph, reminding myself how to find Samara, which directed me to one Tracking Officer Dara. I pondered on what that could possibly mean, since usually only paroled criminals liaised with such officers.

I assembled Garrus and Thane to go with me for this; the latter because I wanted to see how he would work in a team dynamic, and the former because I liked the idea of having an ex-detective with me when meeting a law enforcement officer. Heading through the trading floor on the way to Dara's office we ran into the closest thing to a real friend I'd made on Noveria: Giana Parasini. She was sitting at a bar near the trading floor and must have recognised me, because she called me over to her. I walked over and she ordered a beer for me as I sat down. She was surprised to see me alive, but had the professional decorum not to ask me what I'd been doing since our last encounter. I told her I was after the Collectors, and she replied I was welcome to it, since a tough job for her just meant more paperwork. She looked over my shoulder and saw someone, I didn't know who, but it made her leave awkwardly, although she did push the newly poured beer in front of me. I raised my eyebrows and was about to walk away when I noticed that there was a small note under the beer. I took it and read it surreptitiously. Giana's hurried handwriting told me that the asari merchant at the Serrice Technology kiosk had been smuggling and if I could get her to show me the 'special' merchandise I'd be doing Giana a huge favour.

I looked over at the asari in question - she didn't look particularly intimidating, and it was easy enough for me to try. I left the beer unfinished and asked Garrus and Thane to wait for me before I walked over to her. I walked right up to her and she looked me up and down, taking a good long look at the quality of my weapons and armour, all the details she needed to know I meant serious business. I asked her what kind of equipment she had, and she replied with the old platitude of 'nothing but the latest and greatest'. I told her I was planning to spend a lot of credits, so I was looking for value for money and price wasn't an issue. I could almost see the cogs turning in her head as she calculated how to get me to buy, eventually giving me a discount and saying she'd inform me of any new stock, all available through the kiosk. Sensing an angle, I asked her if there was anything not on the kiosk yet, anything cutting edge, and she gave a sideways glance and said she had something just in, but she might not have the licence to sell it. She gingerly took out a datapad and handed it to me, and Giana picked that moment to swoop in and say that particular design was still in development on Noveria. Hermia got extremely flustered and left in a hurry to get her lawyer, but the way Giana told it, Hermia wouldn't have the money to afford one. I asked if she had the authority to seize the schematics datapad I was still holding, and she replied there wasn't a point. They'd leaked a faulty device to her, and catching her in the act gave Giana enough evidence to fine her out of business. As we walked back to the bar Giana recounted her favourite times were when she got to nail asari; ageless and superior until they were caught, then they squealed like schoolgirls. As we sat down we had a huge smile on her face, and I commented that it was nice to have a job you loved. She said she originally wanted to join C-Sec, but her family needed the money a corporate job offered, and white-collar crime was nice and clean. She chuckled and said at least she didn't need to wear a dress and heels this time. I smiled at her and left, telling her I had other business today.

After collecting my companions I followed the directions I had been given in Liara's email when I came across another old friend. Apparently the galaxy really is a small place. This time, it was Shiala, the asari commando Saren betrayed to the Thorian on Feros. The last time I had seen her she was the normal asari blue, but now she was leaf green, like her Thorian clones had been. She was sitting down, but got an excited look as she saw me, and jumped up to greet me. She told me she was here helping Zhu's Hope rebuild after Saren's attack. The colony was growing, and had salvaged some geth technology from the downed dropship, but Exogeni had mostly withdrawn the researchers, along with the Thorian's remains. She said with dark humour that her task on Illium was mundane compared to both our past adventures. I asked if she needed anything, and she said that she had reached the end of her diplomatic abilities and would welcome my assistance.

She informed me that about six months after I had killed the Thorian some of the colonists, all former Thorian victims, began to have health problems, so they contracted a company for scans and medical treatment. What they hadn't seen when they signed was a clause that would allow the company to use painful and invasive procedures without the colonists' consent if they deemed it worthy, which they obviously had. I asked about the health concerns, and she said that former victims would often share sensations like heat or pain when close together, or suffered headaches or spasms. Her particular problem was that her skin pigment had turned her green, her biotics were now unstable and she had vivid, often disturbing dreams about her time within the Thorian. She said that when she'd put out the tender for the contract, Baria Frontiers made the best offer, with cheap treatments made available. She said that Baria Frontiers couldn't force the procedures, but they could declare the colonists in breach of contract and sue for the full cost of the treatment, which would practically cripple the colony financially. She pointed me to an asari looking out over the city, and said that she was Erinya, and knew about the contract if I would try and help.

Occasionally a soft heart, I walked over to the asari - and I instantly regretted it. She turned to me with a sneer that I had previously only found on Udina's face when one of my missions ended in more paperwork for him. She informed me that she had seen me talking to Shiala, and that I had best turn around and start walking or I'd just be wasting my time. She went on about how the contract was legal and the colonists were worthless, and it wasn't hard to detect the raging specieism underneath the rhetoric. I asked her outright why she hated colonists she had never met, and she said that other species only ever got asari killed in their conflicts. Asari like her bondmate, who died in the geth uprising, or her daughters on the Citadel killed during Sovereign's attack. I could tell this was a point of vulnerability so I pushed on it, even if I felt a little dirty when I witnessed the effects. I played the guilt card, asking her if what she was doing now would make her dead family proud, and she broke into tears, falling back against the wall. I defy anyone not to feel ashamed when they force a grown sentient of any species to tears like that. Eventually, she said through her tears she had experienced enough suffering, and didn't need to add more to the galaxy, so she would revise the contracts. She pulled up a datapad and pressed a few buttons before pressing her thumb onto it, effectively signing it biometrically before handing it to me. She wiped her tears from her face with the back of her hand, giving me a small, sad smile as she left me standing there.

Heading back to Shiala, she stood up and walked over to me anxiously, asking how it went. I told her to see for herself and handed her the datapad. She read through it quickly, before she came to the revised section and her face broke into a wide smile. She said I'd saved Zhu's Hope again, and then her smile faded as she asked rhetorically if it was always like this, yesterday's problems lingering and nothing ever being truly fixed. I told her that she had the power to make a difference, which wasn't a chance everyone got, which got me another smile. She took a step closer and thanked me, saying 'that maybe when she's not saving the colony, and I'm not saving the galaxy we could…' but she left the sentence hanging awkwardly. She put a hand on my shoulder and gave me a confused smile, leaving without another word. I stood there for a moment, taking my time to process that I had just been hit on by someone **at least** ten times my age. Not that I wasn't flattered, and I understood it well enough. It's hard not to fall for a saviour figure, like I did when the Alliance Marines came to Mindoir.

After shaking away the unbidden thought of a much easier relationship with Shiala than my current one with Liara, I remembered why I came here in the first place. I ignored the unmistakably smirk-like look on Garrus' face, and Thane remained as stoic and unreadable as ever as we rounded the corner into Dara's office. I found her sitting at her desk, though she turned to acknowledge us as we entered. I told the officer that I was looking for Samara, and she asked us in a sudden panic if she had killed someone already. I tried to calm her down and said I just wanted to talk to her, and she apologised, saying that Samara was the first justicar she'd ever worked with. She continued that I should be polite if I met her, since Samara wasn't used to dealing with aliens like me. I asked her what exactly it meant to be a justicar, and she replied that they were a monastic sect within asari society that upheld and embodied their laws in a strict Code. Said Code guided them to correct injustice wherever they found it, usually with lethal force. They didn't do it for personal gain, only to follow the Code. It sounded to me a lot like a cross between a prophet and an assassin. She said that the justicar Code would cause problems on Illium, where almost everyone skirted the law somehow, and Samara would be honour bound to kill the entire population. I asked her what the problem was and got the reply that if Samara killed a fellow asari, there would be no problem. However, if she killed a human or a turian for example, it was just a diplomatic indecent waiting to happen. It sounded to me like I would be doing everyone a favour by picking her up as fast as possible, so I asked where she was. Dara said she was currently in the commercial spaceport nearby, and advised me to take a cab. I nodded and began walking away, and she called out to my retreating back to try not to piss Samara off.

One short and uneventful cab ride later, we emerged at what appeared to be an active crime scene. A squat volus, with a pair of turian bodyguards, was being hassled by a purple asari in the uniform of what passes for organised policing on Illium. In truth, I was surprised there was one, since private security and investigation is commonplace and far more lucrative on the planet. However, I quickly realised that whilst the official police aren't exactly up to C-Sec scratch, they were better than what you'd find in the nearby Terminus Systems. The officer had obviously just finished her talk with the volus, and retreated back into what looked like a precinct office. I followed her, figuring she could probably give me some helpful information, and it looked like the place was locked down, given the holographic police barrier just around the corner and numerous uniformed asari stationed within sight of each other.

I walked up to her desk just as she sat down, and her look of mild annoyance didn't escape me. She gave the three of us a quick once-over and asked what we wanted, carefully, but there was still a rough edge to her voice. I told her I was looking for Samara, and her face clouded over as she said that if I was here to settle and old score, I'd better forget about it quickly. She let out a breath and said quietly that she had enough trouble with Samara as it was. To allay her fears, I told her that I was recruiting for a dangerous mission, and heard that Samara was the best. An odd look came over the detective, whose badge I finally saw read Anaya. She said, almost to herself, that justicars usually worked alone, but that an impossible cause would be a good way to get her away from here. That seemed to convince her, so she said she'd give me access to the crime scene right away. I asked why she'd let Samara in in the first place, and she said simply that Samara had been looking at crime scenes longer than both of us had been alive. Not usually one to look a gift horse in the mouth, something about this seemed entirely too easy.

Sceptical, I asked her why she was letting me do this, and she sighed again, having obviously been hoping that I wouldn't ask. She said that her bosses wanted to take Samara into custody, but the justicar Code wouldn't allow it. Samara would kill everyone in her way without hesitation, something Anaya wasn't keen on. So she said that if I could get her away before she had to carry out those particular orders, she'd be thrilled to help me. She pressed a few holographic buttons on her console and said I had access now, but I had better be careful, there were a lot of Eclipse in the area. I nodded my appreciation and the three of us left. As the precinct door closed behind us, Garrus made a comment that we should hurry, before Anaya carried out her orders. We walked through the barrier, the light briefly turning red as we broke the line, and the officers on guard acknowledged our access privileges. As we walked past the corpse of a murdered volus, Thane spoke for the first time, saying that given the amount of damage the short sentient had sustained, not the mention the amount of gore splattered on the walls, it was likely that the killer had used explosive rounds, and had shot him from behind. His voice was condescending as he said was it was crude, but effective, since it would be impossible to ballistics match the weapon to the non-existent round.

We had barely turned the first corner in the narrow series of alley when we heard them, a squad of Eclipse mercs. We pulled out our weapons of choice, me with my shiny purple geth shotgun, Garrus and Thane with their sniper rifles. We took cover on the corner and I leaned out, just enough to see a small group of asari in Eclipse yellow, and a few LOKI mechs to boot. I pointed to Thane and gestured to the other corner, and he nodded and seemed to flow rather than just move, his feet making not a whisper as he took up position on the other side of the alleyway. Garrus and Thane linked their weapon IFFs to my hardsuit, and I leaned out again, designating their targets. I gripped my shotgun again and stepped out from cover just as Garrus and Thane turned the corner. They pulled their triggers almost in perfect sync as I used my biotics to make the world blur purple as I rushed at my target. For a brief second I thought I could see, out of the corner of my eye, both of the sniper rounds as the three deadly projectiles raced towards our targets. The sniper rounds impacted and sprayed gears and gore over the walls as I came out of the mass effect field I enveloped myself with, sending my first target into a stack of crates with bone-shattering force. I turned my shotgun on the nearest mercs as my team's rifles rang out again, dropping the rest of the merc squad with clean headshots.

After the three of us regrouped, we walked towards the door that the mercs had been gathered around, which had been sealed from the inside. I nodded to Garrus and he went to work, making much better time than I would have for the task of slicing the door open. A few seconds later we heard the unmistakable sound of a body impacting heavily into the door from the other side, so hard that the door bent out towards us. Garrus looked up at me as if asking if we really wanted to know what was on the other side, and I gave him a brief nod, tightening my grip on the shotgun. Thane pulled out a Locust SMG, which was a smart choice in close quarters combat. Garrus looked up from the door code and I nodded again to signal my readiness, adjusting my stance ever so slightly. The turian pressed a final button and whipped out his assault rifle, getting into a kneeling position and using the doorframe as cover.

The door itself groaned and screamed as the bent metal tried to slide into its old position, and we saw the body of the asari Eclipse merc who had unwillingly caused the damage. I didn't spend long looking at is as I heard voices further inside. The three us of moved up as I heard one voice, strong and cold as a stone, ask for the name of the ship 'she' left on. I turned the corner in time to see the owner of the second voice, a merc wearing lieutenant markings, reply in a voice full of fear and doubt that 'she' was more frightening than the first voice. I got my first look at Samara as her body glowed the distinct violet of a biotic as she threw the merc through a plate-glass window. I put my arm up to shield my eyes from the spraying shards as Samara ran at the open window and glowed again, using her biotics to slow her descent to that of a feather. I was privately jealous of this little show, because it's something that no human could ever pull off. She landed as gently as if she was stepping off a staircase and walked to the merc on the floor, who was bleeding from a dozen minor cuts. I watched silently as she walked and I have to say, Samara's armour isn't what you think of when you picture armour. It was made of hundreds of small, interlocking plates, which would have given her fantastic flexibility, but at the cost of protection. However, the designer had seen fit to expose a more-than-generous amount of cleavage, even more than whoever designed Miranda's catsuit. Really, someone should have worked out by now that even the best armour in the world won't help if it isn't actually covering you. She complemented the cleavage with dangerous-looking heels and some metal pieces around her eyes, like some facsimile of eyebrows. However, the reduced effectiveness of the armour would have been more than made up for by her biotic barrier, which would be significant if her floating display was any indication of her biotic prowess.

Samara stepped right up to the merc, who had been scrabbling on the floor to get away, and planted a stilettoed foot securely on her neck. She asked the merc in that unwavering voice to reconsider, while the merc tried unsuccessfully to pry the foot off with her hands. Seeing the inevitability of her situation, she decided at least to go out defiant, spitting out for Samara to go to hell. Samara's expression didn't flicker as she told the merc to find peace, before sharply twisting her foot 90 degrees, snapping the merc's neck in one clean execution. I must have made enough noise to be heard, as she snapped her head in our direction, her grey eyes sizing us up as she walked over to us. She didn't show any signs of wishing us violence, but then given that she'd just killed someone without so much as a twitch, I doubt she had much use for facial expressions. Obviously not able to come to a conclusion on her own, she asked if we were friend or foe.

I didn't answer that question, since I didn't know either, but I did tell her we needed her help for a dangerous and difficult mission. She almost smiled as she bowed her head and replied she was honoured, but she had her own investigation currently, and it was paramount to her. I continued that the odds of my mission were considered suicidal by some, not sure why I thought it would help my case. She looked closely at my face, looking for deceit perhaps, but finally said she could sense the truth of my words, and was humbled by them. But she still refused, saying she was tracking a dangerous fugitive. She'd finally cornered her, but the Eclipse had smuggled her off-world, and she needed the name of the ship before the trail went cold.

She looked over my shoulder at something and I heard Detective Anaya sign again and wish that Samara would leave with me, since she couldn't delay taking Samara into custody any longer. I turned to find a very uneasy looking Anaya, a pair of cuffs dangling from one hand. Samara's expression seemed to soften for a moment as she recognised Anaya's plight and said she would go willingly, but only for one day, when she would be compelled to return to her investigation. Anaya was uneasy as she said she wouldn't be able to release her that soon, and Samara's voice was like a glacier, cold and unstoppable, as she replied that Anaya wouldn't be able to stop her. I was thoroughly confused, and said so, and Anaya said that she really wanted Samara to go with me. Samara said that her Code would allow her to cooperate with the detective, but then she'd have to continue, and kill anyone in her way if she needed, which would likely include the detective. I now understood Anaya's unease, it meant that she was just delaying the time until she would have to fight Samara, a fight I didn't see her winning alone.

Trying to be the voice of reason, I asked if there was a way to compromise. Samara's face lightened up a little as she said that if I could find the name of the ship while she was in custody, she would leave with me and not destroy the precinct in the process. Anaya seemed hesitant, but then realised that she didn't have another option at the moment. I asked where to start and Anaya said I should talk to Pitne For, a volus trader who had been trying to leave since his partner had been killed. He'd apparently done business with the Eclipse, but was now persona non grata, so might be willing to help me, given my recent actions. She pointed to some of the mercs outside to emphasise her point. I agreed, and the five of us walked out to a waiting pair of squad cars that Anaya had brought. We piled in, Garrus and Thane in one, Samara and I in the other, each with two Illium Security officers, then made the short trip back to the precinct office.

We got out and Anaya pointed me to the volus I saw her arguing with earlier, still standing with his turian bodyguards. I waited until Garrus and Thane were with me, the three of us making our way to the rotund merchant while Samara walked peacefully behind Anaya. Even now, there was something dangerous about Samara; the way she held herself was almost advertising that she was ready to attack without warning. I walked right up to him, and his bodyguards stiffened slightly, well paid didn't mean slack obviously. He asked me gruffly what I wanted, and I told him he should relax, seeing as I wasn't an Eclipse merc. He perked up quickly at the mention of Eclipse. I asked him what his relationship with the Eclipse was, and why he was so keen to leave.

He admitted that he had business dealing with them, moving cargo mostly. His most recent shipment was a chemical he'd smuggled that boosted biotic power. It obviously slipped his mind to inform them that it was also highly toxic, and the Eclipse mercs hadn't taken the news well. I didn't have much sympathy, telling him condescendingly that he was a swindler whose actions had finally caught up with him. He didn't even try at the offended businessman, admitting that both counts were true. He was a clever one though, saying that he'd gotten this far in life by knowing when a deal was in the making, like right now I wanted something. I admitted that I needed the name of a ship the Eclipse used to smuggle someone off-world. He said that he couldn't help there; those records would be held within the Eclipse base. He did however, flourish a security card and say that he had a secret pass, holding the card out and with a lilt in his voice that whispered it could be mine for the right price. I gave him my opening offer by cracking my knuckles menacingly, and he suddenly became very eager to sell. He handed the card to me and gave me directions, telling me in a conspiratorial whisper to be careful, since each Eclipse member had to kill to earn the uniform.

I walked away and followed Pitne For's directions, coming to a cargo elevator right around the corner from the precinct office Anaya was sitting in. I hand to hand it to the Eclipse, it was either bold or stupid to have the entrance to their operational base so close to a police station. Not really able to make up my mind either way, I just swiped the card over the access panel and all the lights turned green, the doors opening with a near silent mechanical hiss as we stepped inside. There was no need to press any of the buttons, obviously the access card had a code for the correct floor as well. As we waited while the lift took us down, Garrus and I checked our weapons and armour while Thane went over to one of the crates and sat down, his inner set of eyelids closing as he went into a kind of meditation, from what I could gather.

When the lift stopped, the three of us were ready for the firefight we all knew was inevitable. The doors opened to a pair of very confused looking mercs, but we dealt with them before they could raise any alarms. I pulled the trigger of my shotgun, tearing frighteningly large holes in the nearest merc. Thane closed the distance to the other one in two quick steps, left hand quickly jabbing into the merc's throat. As she fell down, Thane wrapped his arm around her neck in a strong headlock and snapped upwards quickly, breaking her neck in one swift stroke. He let go of the lifeless body and it hit the ground limply, before we moved out. I spied a map of the complex nearby and copied it to my hardsuit computer, marking the location of what looked a likely location to find more information.

As we moved out through the converted cargo warehouse, we came across a group of seven mercs. The three of us killed one each before they knew what was happening, but the remaining four were too quick, getting into cover and forcing us into cover with their returning fire. For a reason I didn't understand at the time, they focused most of their fire at me. Once I heard one of their rounds cause a small hissing in one of the containers I was hiding behind, I understood. But I didn't have time to move before the canister ruptured explosively, sending out a think miasma of heavy purple gas that completely enveloped me. Immediately I felt my heart rate increase, muscles in my neck tightening involuntarily. My entire body felt electric, like I was holding a live wire. For the first time, I could feel the element zero nodules in my body, and could almost see exactly how to make them do whatever I wanted. I was obviously a little delirious, but at the time I didn't care.

I stood up quickly, ignoring the mercs' rounds as they bounced uselessly against my almost iron-like biotic barrier. I charged at the nearest one, almost teleporting with my speed, sending her and the one next to her flying bodily into walls, breaking their bodies. I turned to the third one, whose eyes were wide with fear, raising my arm and reducing her weight to effectively zero, before throwing her harder than I've ever thrown anything in my life, sending her off the edge of the building and screaming to an ignominious death far below. I turned to the last one just as the drug was beginning to wear off, and the drain made me fall to my knees. Unfortunately for her, the hungry look in her eyes as she turned her weapon towards me meant that she took her eyes off Garrus, who sent an EMP that caused her omni-tool to overload catastrophically, blinding her an instant before he put a round through the side of her skull.

As Thane and Garrus caught up to me, I fell to my hands as well; breathing hard as if I'd just finished on of Gunny Elison's 'training exercises.' I finally heard the beeping warnings coming from my headset, and looked at my visor to see a myriad of warning about my vital signs. The computer had obviously finished analysing whatever I had inhaled and identified it as Minagen X-3. The readout said it had boosted my biotics by a factor or two, but if I'd spent much more than I had in the cloud, I would have quickly started to experience what liver failure feels like, closely followed by respiratory failure, again. I looked back to where I had been before and saw that the cloud was starting to dissipate, the remains of the canister red and black. I pulled out an emergency ration bar out of one of my thigh pockets, wolfing it down quickly and then standing up, feeling slightly better with some much-needed energy after my recent exertions. I stood up, telling Garrus and Thane to try and avoid standing too close to any canisters of Minagen, in case something similar happened. I won't deny that I felt incredible, even god-like while under the influence, but the price to be paid wasn't worth it, and I probably wouldn't survive if I exerted myself that much again.

I got up after a few minutes, confident enough to continue, and the three of us worked our way deeper into enemy territory. We avoided the mercs as much as possible, trying to quickly kill those we couldn't avoid. More than once I used the same tactic that had been so recently employed against me, hitting any Minagen canisters near the mercs and watching them either run away only to get shot, or stand their ground and quickly get poisoned. At one point, we were almost at our target when we heard a whispering behind a door. Not one to leave an enemy at my back if I could avoid it, I opened the door. The whispering stopped and I couldn't see anything instantly, but then I caught a glimpse of a blue hand behind a desk. I told her to come out, and she reluctantly stood. Her voice was small and quivering as she begged for her life, saying she was new and hadn't really fired her gun before. She pulled out her pistol, tempting me to pull my trigger, but she only did it to throw it down. I believed her just about as much as I believed in Santa, but I wasn't about to kill an unarmed enemy. I kicked the pistol into the corner and told her to get lost. As she moved passed us I saw Thane pinch a point on her neck, and she fell unconscious into his waiting arms, then he placed her gently prone on the floor. He said that would keep her out of trouble for at least 30 minutes, and I gave an approving nod.

We kept moving, later finding a journal recording by the young merc we just incapacitated, boasting about killing the volus partner of Pitne For. I was a little irked, but didn't want to try dragging a prisoner with us while trying to fight mercs ahead, so I took a copy for Anaya to use. Just after that we came to a series of connector bridges between buildings. We were heading towards the far door when I heard the unmistakable sound of a Mantis gunship approaching. I got into cover just in time, as the gunship darted into view and sprayed the area with large-calibre death. We were effectively stuck there until the gunship ran out of fuel or ammunition, either of which gave the mercs plenty of time to potentially flank us. Not wanting to wait around just to get shot, I remembered that Garrus had shot down a Mantic using just his sniper rifle on Omega, at least according to the reports.

I shouted at him, asking if he could repeat that shot. He peered around the pillar he was using for cover and took a quick look at our attacker, before getting back into cover. He shook his head and shouted back that he couldn't get a good angle. Thane was on my other side and figured my plan as well, taking a quick look and shouting that he had an angle, but he needed something with a little more punch than a sniper rifle, since he'd only get one shot. I pulled the Collector weapon off my back and tossed it to him, telling him to use it. He grabbed it easily and held it for a second, sighting it and giving it a small test-fire. Then he fell to one knee and leaned out of cover while Garrus and I drew some attention. I watched as the bright yellow beam carved a line straight through the cockpit and into the control panel, before sweeping sideways to decapitating the pilot. The gunship lurched ungainly to one side before the cockpit exploded and it fell down the lower levels far below. Thane handed the weapon back to me, saying with a small smile that the sighting was off.

The three of us continued onwards, and almost missed a datapad describing a recent shipment from Pitne For of Minagen X-3 and red sand. I made a copy of this as well, sure it could be useful later. We rounded the corner and came across another volus, who was currently arguing with a vending machine. He must have heard us coming up behind him, for he turned around and told us all to fear him, for was now a god, biotics made flesh! I shot a look to my counterparts, trying to impart my disbelief, which prompted Garrus to tell him he needed help. The volus turned to my turian counterpart and scolded him that he was the mightiest biotic ever! He said the asari had injected him with a terrifying amount of drugs, but now he could smell his greatness! They laughed before when he fell over, but they didn't know what he knew now. He turned back to me and shouted rather meekly that I should fear him. I asked if he was part of Pitne For's group, and he replied that he was once, and that Pitne must he missing him terribly. Thane said, just loud enough to hear, that this was unlikely to be the case. The little man got angry then, shouting that he would, in his own words, 'wreak a just vengeance upon him' after he dealt with Wasea. As he started walking away I told him to lie down, but he just thrust up his small arms and shouted that he was unstoppable! I gave him a nudge in the back with my boot and he fell forward onto his face. He got up and seemed extremely confused that such a thing had happened. He got unsteadily to his feet and started to toddle away, and I'm pretty sure he muttered something about 'destroying the universe after his nap'. I had other things to deal with, like whoever Wasea was.

We walked through the door the volus was heading towards before I stopped him, finding ourselves in a small warehouse. At the other end was an asari with scarlet neon tattoos, who I assumed was Wasea, was pacing angrily and looking disgustedly at a datapad in one hand, a bright orange drink in the other. She gulped it down and looked up at the three of us, throwing her glass away. She moaned that everything had gone to hell since they had smuggled that 'filthy creature' off-world, first Samara showing up and now me. She put the datapad down on a makeshift desk and said that at least she could have the pleasure of killing me. As she finished shouting the sentence, I saw her lifting a familiar-looking container with her biotics, before she sent it rushing towards us.

We jumped out of the way just as the container struck the ground and ruptured, sending out a cloud of purple mist. And then it wasn't just Wasea anymore, but a large squad of Eclipse mercs as well, probably signalled by the canister or Wasea herself. We were outnumbered at least three to one, if not more, so I made a decision I probably shouldn't have to even the odds. While I was safely in cover I took out two more high-energy ration bars and scoffed them down as quickly as I could. Once I had the last swallow down, I exhaled a deep breath, reactivated my biotic barrier, as stepped into the cloud of Minagen. I took a deep breath, my mind clouding over slightly as the fast-acting drug started to work its terrible magic on my body. I could see ten targets, including Wasea, as their rounds impacted against my barrier. I didn't even draw my weapon, just biotically charged right into a tight group of three taking cover behind a set of reinforced crates. The shockwave as I came out of the charge sent them flying bodily into more crates, killing them on impact. I turned to see another group hiding in a similar fashion nearby, one of them with a rocket launcher. She managed to find the trigger and the rocket exploded against my barrier. I barely flinched at the shockwave and fire as it raged fiercely, but briefly, around me, before I used my biotics to topple a wall of crates behind them, crushing the unlucky mercs. I could already feel the Minagen-effects fading, so I used it to lift the last group of three mercs into the air, Garrus and Thane taking their cue and taking them out with their sniper rifles. After that display I knew I needed to stop, so I hunkered down as best I could away from Wasea as my mind and body came down from the high and started to feel the effects of the toxin now raging through my system. My hardsuit computer automatically gave me a dose of medigel, even as the sound of gunfire and biotics tore through the air. I took out my last ration bar and ate it as quickly as I could, not wanting to wait until the fight came to me. I finished and pulled out my pistol, leaning out of cover in time to witness a masterpiece.

I may have said before that watching Thane fight was like watching a master artist create, maybe not, but this is what it was. He was now fighting hand to hand with Wasea, and one look told you which of them was going to win this. She lashed out quickly, her biotics adding to her strength, but Thane just moved like water, avoiding and deflecting her blows, looking for an opening. He found one as she extended her arm just a fraction too far, grabbing her wrist in a grip of steel and twisting so sharply even I heard the quickfire series of snaps that signalled a broken wrist. Wasea grunted in pain as Thane capitalised on his new gap, jabbing out into Wasea's throat and knees in quick succession. Acting involuntarily, Wasea fell to her knees and tried to support her fall with her broken wrist, her good had around her throat as she tried to breathe enough oxygen. As she fell on her broken wrist her spine straightened immediately, bringing her head back up to Thane's waiting hands, now standing behind her. He gently placed his hands on either side of her head and twisted them sharply one final time, snapping her neck like her wrist, before laying her now limp body almost reverentially on the ground. He stayed kneeling next to her, hands clasped once again in prayer.

Garrus came up to me, checking that I was alright after my second brush with death today. I was still getting up off the floor as I told him I was fine, and that I was going to try harder to kick my new habit in the future. He gave me the turian equivalent of a smile, and the two of us got up and walked over to the desk, which was now sporting a good number of bullet holes and liberal blood splatter. I picked up the miraculously unharmed datapad and read that Samara's target had been taken off-world two days ago on the AML Demeter. Satisfied there was nothing here worth staying for, and Thane's prayers finished, the three of us made our way back to the precinct office, thankfully without any armed interruption. We made a point of trying to find Elnora, the merc I'd spared before, but we obviously had been longer than I realised, as all that was left was a puddle of drool where Thane had laid her.

Once back at the precinct, we were met by an anxious-looking Pitne For, or at least as anxious as you can be when you wear a full exo-suit. He gave me half-hearted congratulations for taking out the Eclipse mercs, and tried to surreptitiously ask if we had found a shipping manifest belonging to him, since he'd left it behind before making a hasty escape. I brought out the copy I had made and displayed it on my omni-tool, asking if he was referring to this one that would send him behind bars for a very long time. From what I knew of Illium's rather loose set of laws, neither of the things he had smuggled for the Eclipse were illegal, but the authorities, not to mention 'legitimate business' took a really intense position on smuggling. He unabashedly acceded the truth, and asked if I was willing not to give it to Anaya if he gave me the proceeds of that particular shipment. I was faced with a difficult decision here; because while I was a Spectre, I doubted Council law held much sway here. Even if I brought him to Citadel in person, he'd just hire a lawyer and hold up investigations for years. On the other hand, having someone like this owe me a favour could be extremely valuable later, given that I highly doubted Cerberus was just going to let me go quietly if it came to that. So I made him an offer. I was willing to keep this quiet, but if he got caught again, I wasn't going to bail him out. In return for my silence I handed him a document I quickly drafted, telling him that he owed me a favour, and his signature would ensure that I would be able to collect when I needed it. He read it over carefully, but knew that he didn't have a choice if he wanted to keep his money and his freedom. He signed it and handed it back, and I gave him the dirty manifest.

As the volus walked away, Garrus asked me why I had done that, why I hadn't turned him over to Anaya. I sighed and told him that times were different now. I was out of my jurisdiction and almost out of my depth, and needed favours I could call on more than anything else right now, even if it did skirt the wrong side of the law. The Alliance and the Council weren't around to back me up anymore, and I didn't trust Cerberus, so I needed to start putting in place measures to back myself up if it came to that. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure what to say, before finally nodding in agreement. Thane had remained silent throughout the entire exchange, and did not offer any opinions as we made our way to the precinct office. I walked over to Anaya's desk and found Samara meditating on it, and Anaya looking slightly annoyed at her new paperweight. As I stopped in front of them, Samara came out of her mediation and turned to me. I told her what I'd found on Wasea's datapad, and she replied that she was impressed. She slid off Anaya's desk and told her she was ready to leave peacefully now. Anaya said she was free to go, that it was an honour having her and that it was nice to still be alive at the end.

I made to face Anaya when Samara put her hand on my shoulder to stop me. She said she needed to be sworn to my service, so that there would be no conflicts between her Code and my orders. She knelt in front of my and swore a short oath, her body flashing biotic purple for a moment to seal it. She stood again and told me that she would follow my orders without question or hesitation now, though if I made her do anything extremely dishonourable, she would be forced to kill me when I released her from her oath. Her demeanour softened slightly as she said that the life of a Justicar was often lonely, and it would be good to travel with company again. I finally turned to Anaya and said I had a few things to tell her. First, that Pitne For was a smuggler. She rolled her eyes and the sarcasm was thick on her voice as she asked me to tell her something she didn't know. I replied that I knew who had killed Pitne's partner, and had an oral journal entry as confession of Elnora's guilt. I handed over a small datadisc of the audiofile I copied from the Eclipse computer. Anaya looked at it and said it would never be admissible, but Samara interjected that she would vouch for it. Anaya looked thoughtfully at the disc and said that a Justicar's word would suffice, but it was a shame I didn't bring her in. At least she was on the run now. As I turned to leave and take the newest recruit to the _Normandy_, Anaya thanked me, and that telling her grandkids about meeting a Justicar would be a great story; and that I'd just significantly raised her chances of having said grandkids.

As the four of us took another taxi back to the _Normandy_, I quietly reviewed everything that had happened today in my mind. I questioned my own sense of justice, and how it had changed now that I had died. I knew that in my previous life I would have sent Pitne For to jail in a heartbeat, but now I needed help from people like him more than I could afford justice. It made me a little disgusted with myself, but I tried not to dwell on it. We took a small detour to a storage facility where Samara had a few possessions, mostly some clothes and weapons, as well as some emergency rations. As she packed them I thought I caught a glimpse of a holo-locket, but it disappeared from sight before I could confirm it. Besides, I'm not one to pry into the private lives of others for no reason. Once it was all collected it was only a short trip to our ship. Once onboard I felt the familiar motions of Joker pulling the ship out of dock and into the atmosphere. Garrus and Thane held onto the crates of Samara's belongings as Jacob met us at the airlock.

He guided Samara and myself towards the briefing room, Garrus and Thane following behind us. As we walked he welcomed Samara to the ship and introduced himself as the armoury officer. He said he'd read her dossier and complimented her on her skills, which was high praise from Cerberus. I told him I watched her at work, and it was pretty incredible. Jacob said that was good, given we didn't know what we were up against. Samara just said that she would be ready to face whatever comes. Jacob nodded and asked where she would like to be set up on the ship. Samara asked if there were any rooms that looked out into 'the great empty void'. I was about to suggest the port observation, but Kasumi had already set up shop there, so I said the Starboard observation on Deck Three was available. Samara nodded in acceptance just as we reached the elevator. She pointed to the crate Thane was carrying and said that it contained her weapons, while Garrus' contained her few belongings. I nodded and Garrus turned around so I could sling his weapons off his back. Once off, he went into the elevator and said he'd show Samara her new quarters, the old asari following him down. Jacob, Thane and I went to the armoury to put away our weapons, and then I went down to Chakwas to make sure I wasn't going to have any lasting damage from my Minagen X-3 exposure. Chakwas drew a small blood sample and analysed it, and gave me a full body scan just to be safe. When the results were in she said that while it wasn't something I couldn't heal, she strongly suggested I avoid it in future.

I went back up to my cabin and was packing my armour into its personal locker when I got an urgent call from Joker that the Illusive man wanted to talk to me. I grumbled as I made my way to the briefing room, wondering what manner of life-threatening situation he had prepared for me this time.


	17. The Sleeping Dragon

**Author's Note: A huge apology to everyone who read this in the expectation of reasonable updates. I know it's been over a year since the last update, but my life has been hugely changed and my free time has been drastically with no further ado, I present chapter 16, and hope that I can maintain a slightly more frequent update schedule until I'm finished with it. **

**Also, to anyone wanting to know, this story is meant to be read as a cross between Shepard's After Action reports and a personal journal, so light on the dialogue and heavy on emotion and personal views of the way things happen.**

xXXXx

Chapter 16 – The Sleeping Dragon

April 23, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Docked on Carlast, Illium

xXXx

I've docked the ship on Illium for the next two week. I've chosen Carlast instead of the more familiar, if you want to use the term, port in Nos Astra for a few reasons. One, Carlast is a more industrial area. Its shipyard facility and starship and parts dealers will have what the crew will require to repair and upgrade the ship while we're docked here, which would be easier than if we were in Nos Astra.

Two, it gives me some space from Liara while I try and work out our relationship. We didn't exactly leave on good terms, and I'm not sure if we can, or even want to see if our relationship is worth the effort to make it work.

Of course, neither of these are the reason we're on Illium at all.

Two days ago, the Illusive Man decided to give me an urgent call. I had just gotten out of my armour and was still recovering from the largely self-inflicted Minagen X-3 poisoning I'd performed earlier in the day, so I was slightly cranky. An emotional state not improved when I entered the QEC projector in the briefing room to find my least favourite Cerberus honcho, silhouetted by the star's light streaming by in swirls of red and blue. He was standing side-on to me, a few paces further away from his usual chair, almost nonchalantly lighting his ever-present cigarette before deigning to address me.

He took a drag on the death-stick, and then told me he'd intercepted a distress call from a turian patrol that had encountered a Collector ship somewhere in the Terminus Systems. The patrol was destroyed, but they had managed to cripple the Collector vessel in return. Since I was close and had one of the only stealth ships in the galaxy, he needed me to take advantage of this 'golden opportunity' to get some hard data on the Collectors from their own databases. To say I was sceptical would be an understatement, given our last call about Horizon.

I asked how a turian patrol, which usually has only 3 or 4 frigates, could have damaged the Collector ship, given the last recorded encounter chewed apart the _Normandy_ in less than 5 minutes. He avoided the how and said his reports indicated that the hull was intact, but the systems were offline. He urged me to leave urgently, saying that the Collectors may have been attempting repairs as we spoke. This mission would be dangerous, but it was an opportunity that wouldn't come around again. On that at least, we agreed. I took a few seconds to think further, dipping into my education on the turian military. I asked if there was a recon team being sent to investigate this encounter. To his credit, he had already thought of that eventuality, saying he had intercepted the transmissions and was feeding the turians false reports. I had to hand it to him, he had balls if nothing else to try and bluff the turian military, used as a model and a warning to the rest of the galaxy. We were also close enough to investigate before the turians got wind of the deception.

I really had no option – the opportunity really was too good to pass up, even if it meant doing what he wanted me to do blindly. He apparently had already sent the coordinates to Miranda before I even got to the briefing room. He told me that once I was about I was to set up a link to EDI so she could mine their databanks for information on the Omega-4 relay. He wished me luck before terminating the call, though I could almost swear I saw something in his eyes as he said it. The holographic projector slid back into its idle state as Joker came over the comm saying that Miranda had forwarded him the coordinates, and that we would be there within the hour. I just mumbled under my breath as I headed down to the mess to grab some energy bars, then headed back up to my cabin to put my armour on again and inform the crew of what we were about to do. I also informed the ground team that this was not a volunteer mission, everyone was coming.

An hour later we were cruising towards the coordinates given, an unremarkable system that the turians were exploring for potential colonisation for their protectorate partners, the volus. Our scans of the system showed the Collector vessel itself hanging dead in space near the edge of the system, along with the shattered remains of the turian frigates. I strode up to the cockpit to watch Joker bring us into visual range, slightly disturbed at seeing it there, slowly rotating, all lights dark. Like a mythical dragon you weren't sure if was dead or merely sleeping - and we were about to go and poke it with a stick.

As we came up alongside, EDI gave us a running commentary on the more in-depth scans the _Normandy_ ran at this close range. The emissions were low, and infrared scans showed low temperatures consistent with massive system shutdown and cold thrusters. As Joker brought us to searchlight range, he expressed his disbelief that the turians could take out such a massive ship, and I found myself nodding in agreement. EDI kept us informed as we got closer, saying the ladar detected no breaches in the side facing us, and the mass effect core appeared offline. Due to the slight rotation the ship was still performing, there would likely be a small amount of gravity, but we'd have to go in boots magnetised. She added that there was no breathable atmosphere, so I would have to forgo my visor in favour of the sealed helmet, and everyone would require their own headgear. Confident that we were unlikely to face anything at this point, I radioed the ground team to meet me at the shuttle as I headed towards the elevator.

I wandered down to the armoury, grabbed out my shotgun, pistol and SMG, and took a long, calculating look at the Mattocks on the rack. I decided to pull one out and slung it to my back, hoping that all my recent training would pay off. As I went to the shuttle bay to wait for the crew, I noticed that Garrus, Zaeed, Tali, Grunt and Thane sported full sealed helmets, while Kasumi, Miranda, Jacob, Samara and Mordin opted for the more open breathing apparatus that left the top of the head exposed.

As the shuttle left the safety of the _Normandy_ for the unknown of the Collector ship, I suddenly had a bad feeling about the mission. As the shuttle came to a touchdown in what we were using for a docking station, everyone got their first good look at the inside of our foe's ship.

Where we had landed looked like the inside of a cave or hive. All the surfaces we could see started as a recognisable flat metallic surface, but were to a greater or lesser extent covered in disturbing undulating brown growths. I wasn't the only one who noticed, though Tali and Kasumi were definitely the most disturbed by it. As we started forward, the walls seemed to move imperceptibly, and there were sounds almost on the edge of hearing; scuttling, whispers, even the odd echo of an echo of a scream. This reminded me of the salarians that Saren was experimenting with on Virmire, and I resolved to get out of there as fast as possible.

After a few minutes of walking through the halls, keeping a weather eye out for ambushes, EDI informed us she had found an access node and linked the location to our hardsuit computers. A few seconds later there was a soft ping and a yellow marker appeared on the HUD inside my visor, informing me of the distance and direction to the target. We continued forward, gingerly stepping past root-like growths that appeared at random from the walls or ceiling and disappeared into the floor. As we walked through the corridors towards the node EDI had painted, she came across the comm again saying that she had compared the EM signature to known Collector profiles, and it was a match to the vessel from Horizon. Given how few known profiles there likely were, I couldn't say I was surprised. I suggested the GARDIAN laser towers may have softened it for the turians, and Garrus replied that the colonists might still be aboard, if they were alive. I think everyone walked just a little bit faster at that comment, subconsciously eager to free any prisoners.

A few more corners and any hopes of finding living colonists were dashed. We found a group of the stasis pods the Collectors had used on Horizon, or ones much like them, but they were all empty. None of us much liked the look of them. Tali was visibly shaking, gasping about how horrible it must have been to be trapped in these pods, but still aware and conscious. Even Grunt was a little off put, saying how they reminded him of the tank. We moved on, unable to do anything with the pods except look at them since scanning them didn't reveal any usable data.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any creepier on this ship, the Collectors pulled out all the stops to prove that they could stoop down to just one more level of macabre grotesquery. There was an indistinct mound around the next corner, which I couldn't identify in the low light. As we got closer, it became evident what the pile was, and it made me feel sick.

Bodies. Human bodies. Dragged into a pile and left to rot. If there had been at atmosphere, I would have been choking at the smell. I could almost imagine it clogging my sinus as my eyes wandered from the relatively fresh corpses on top, to the sludgy mess of clothing and rotten flesh at the bottom. I turned away and closed my eyes to prevent myself from gagging. It was too late for some of the team though, Kasumi and Tali visibly being sick at the back of the group. I saw Jacob turn around like me and Miranda go white as a sheet, while Mordin and Samara looked indifferent, like they had seen similar such sights in their years.

Zaeed took one look and spat. Thane bowed his head and clasped his hands in prayer for the departed. Mordin looked closer at the top bodies and pointed out that all of them showed injection marks and precise incisions, hallmarks of a study rather than just random torture. Garrus and Mordin theorised on what they may have been testing, but it didn't matter now: they were dead, the experiment was over for them. I found the strength to move onwards, and the rest of the team followed, trying not to look once more on the festering pile of what had once been living people.

We passed through a door that shut behind us, thankfully cutting us off from the pile on the other side. On this side, there was a lab of sorts, and an open stasis pod connected to some type of diagnostic equipment. The screen and interface were nothing I could decipher, but the contents of the pod were unmistakable: a Collector, lying still in a way that could only mean it was dead.

I opened a connection to EDI so she could analyse the data and perhaps work out what the purpose of the setup was. As the AI analysed the data, I walked over to the open pod to take a good close-up look at the Collector therein.

A body of thinly-covered red musculature was largely covered with chitinous grey plate-like exoskeleton. Four blank pink eyes stared unseeingly at the ceiling from a head that had no other features associated with a face. As the team and I looked upon it, EDI came back, saying the Collectors had been running genetic comparisons between themselves and humanity. She couldn't figure out the purpose of the test, but the preliminary results were remarkable. It showed that the Collectors had a quad-strand genetic structure, one only found in ancient ruins.

Prothean ruins.

This revelation made me step back in shock. The Protheans didn't vanish; they were just working for the enemy - the Reapers. EDI continued that these were no longer Protheans, since there were distinct signs of extensive genetic alteration: three fewer chromosomes, elimination of 'junk sequences' and a reduced heterochromatin structure. I asked why no one had made this connection before, and EDI replied that no-one had ever studied Collector DNA before. To prove her conclusion beyond a doubt, she had already connected 2,000 alleles to recorded fragments, making it likely this particular Collector descended from a Styx Theta cluster Prothean colony. Knowing this didn't make it any less horrifying to me, or to judge the looks on their faces, everyone else. That the Reapers possessed such ruthlessness drive and necromantic technology only reinforced the point that they needed to be destroyed. Garrus muttered that no species should have to suffer a fate so horrible. I agreed, but we needed to move before the Collectors came to salvage the vessel we were currently in. I doubted they'd take kindly to intruders.

After leaving the maudlin laboratory, we came across a large pile of weapons, probably taken from colonists as they'd been abducted entire colonies at a time. Looking through the top selection the weapons were mostly broken or otherwise non-useful, though there were a few genuine diamonds in this heap of rough. Three to be exact.

Grunt's eyes lit up as the first one was unearthed near the top of the pile, a functional M-300 Claymore shotgun. The thing was massive, and only the krogan's huge hands could hold it properly. He was also the only one who could take the bone-shattering force it would produce, considering that it was banned in most of Council space for violating allowable weapon specs. This find emboldened me to look deeper to see if there were any more surprises.

Near the bottom the last two gems were discovered: the distinct red of a rare M-76 Revenant and a large brown tube that unfolded into an M-98 Widow. The Revenant was easy enough to give to Zaeed, since he was probably the only one strong enough and experienced enough to be able to use it.

The Widow was a problem however, since it was a weapon designed to take out tanks and krogan from a prone position, something attested to by the bipod supports that unfolded on the muzzle's flash suppressor. It was a weapon no human hand could wield without breaking, make that shattering, the arm using it. There was also the small matter that it weighed nearly 40 kilograms, so it wasn't a weapon to take lightly. The only unit I'd ever heard of to use this rifle regularly were the Armali Sniper Unit, and those asari had significant enhancements to allow them to do so. I debated leaving it behind but it was a valuable weapon if nothing else, so I handed it to Grunt to carry as well, telling him it was a test of how much of a krogan he was.

We carried on through strangely organic tunnels that grew light-globes from the walls and ceiling, some of them looking like a bizarre attempt at tree-like aesthetics. We eventually came to a cavernous room that stretched up away from us with disturbing curves, hundreds of stasis pods lining it like eggs in an insect hive. I can't remember who asked how many of them were full, but I remember replying that even one was too many. EDI came over the comm to tell us that she couldn't detect any life signs in the pods, which meant that either they had already been emptied before the ship encountered the turians, or they died when the ship lost power. Either way, there was no helping these people.

Turning another corner we found a long incline, which conveniently would lead us towards our objective. As we stalked up, Joker came over the comm, and he sounded urgent. He said that he had EDI compare the profile of this ship to the one that had attacked the original _Normandy_, and found they were an exact match. Everything seemed to crystallise for me then. It was a lucky coincidence that this was the same ship that we faced on Horizon. It was too much of a stretch to believe coincidence when the same ship had been dogging me for two years. Joker signed off after telling me to be extra careful, because something didn't add up, something that was becoming more and more obvious with each new horror we found.

The end of the ramp was bathed in a murky yellowish light, and we blinked a bit as our eyes adjusted. As we stepped out, we encountered a sight that was almost too staggering for words. Garrus eventually found his voice as our brains registered what we were seeing. We had walked into a cavern; easily hundreds of metres across the hollow space, covered in weirdly shaped growths, and absolutely filled with their stasis pods. Thousands, millions, possibly billions, it was hard to tell, but they were definitely not aiming small. Thane made a comment about how every single human in the Terminus Systems wouldn't make a dint towards filling these pods, which only lead to the chilling conclusion: they were going to target Earth.

I tightened the grip on my Mattock as I growled that it wasn't going to happen as long as I drew breath. We were close to our objective now, so I directed the squad over to the access node EDI had marked. It was on a raised podium on a hexagonal section of metal flooring, surrounded by large, transparent tubes. As we approached, Thane voiced a thought that had been troubling me for several minutes now: why hadn't we seen any further Collectors, living or dead?

I walked over to the control node and activated my omni-tool, setting up a data bridge between EDI and the databanks. EDI acknowledged and then began her data-mine, nothing happening for several long seconds. Then Joker's voice was heard, saying the second-last thing you want to hear when you're a long way from safety on a hostile alien ship: "That can't be good."

There was static after that, then the Collector ship rocked as something activated, and thick armour sheets descended down over the tubes near us. The static stopped, and I demanded a status update. Joker replied that there was a major power surge, and EDI added she had routed it into non-critical systems. There was a sound like movement above us, and then she said the very last thing you wanted to hear when you're a long way from safety on a hostile alien ship: "This wasn't a malfunction, this was a trap."

As if reacting to her words like a magic command, the hexagon we stood on jolted upwards a foot, making us all stagger, before ascending at a more controlled and even pace until we were suspended in roughly the centre of the cavern. I asked EDI for help, but she worryingly replied that she was having trouble maintaining a connection, and that someone else was in the system. The platform then stopped just as abruptly as it had started, making us stagger once again. I happened to be the lucky one facing the right direction, so of course I was the first one to see another platform rising a few hundred metres away, rapidly approaching with several Collectors ready and waiting for us. To say I was unimpressed was an understatement.

I alerted the others to prepare for incoming, since I could hear the sound of several more platforms on the way. Garrus and Thane brought out their sniper rifles and managed to take out half a dozen Collectors between them before ten platforms slammed into ours in an irregular enclosure. The drones were easily taken care of with biotics, a simple lift or shockwave to send them off the edge of the platform and to their ignominious death below. The more advanced ones were a problem however, since their biotic barriers and ability to create near-impervious shields made them harder to take out.

Of course, harder was a relative term with my team. With numerous snipers and assault rifles, including Zaeed's new Revenant, laying down withering and accurate cover fire and biotics and shotgunners, like Grunt and Jack, closing in, we held our own just fine. The only real pains in the ass came when the Collector-General possessed one of his minions, and the giant Hunchbacks of Shockwave Arm, whose biotic attacks managed to knock-out several of my team before we could take them out.

Once it was back to just us, we revived the wounded, applied medi-gel where required and re-established the link between EDI and the access node. As her shapeless blue avatar appeared over the console, I was both relieved and a little miffed, and vented a little verbally. She merely replied that I should consider updating her hardware, before the avatar disappeared and she moved the platform. Sadly the platform moved away from where we had started from, so we had to find a new route back to the shuttle.

As she piloted the platform, EDI informed us she had found the data to get us through the Omega-4 relay, but that's not all. She also found the turian distress call, which apparently the turians never sent, the Collectors did. She presented evidence by showing us a small animation showing how turians normally use secondary encryption on their broadcasts. This second layer was present, but corrupted in this particular message, which EDI highlighted by changing the animation displayed.

She furthered that the Illusive Man wouldn't believe the distress call was genuine, since she detected the anomaly with Cerberus detection protocols, ones he himself had written. Joker came over the comm asking, almost begging, to believe this wasn't a trap. I wasn't convinced though, and said so vehemently. Garrus tried to lift the mood with a little bit of gallows humour, but that didn't assuage my feelings overmuch.

And just to give my life just that extra amount of fluffy bunnies and kittens (though preferably not in Gardner's Saturday night special), Joker told me our new problem: since we had sprung the Collectors' trap and bested it, they were powering up their ship. We had until the weapons came online, then Joker would have no choice but to abandon us to save the _Normandy_. EDI said she had partial control of their systems, but we should still hurry to the shuttle, which she helpfully pointed out to us on our HUDs. Needless to say, we didn't stand around on ceremony, we got moving as fast as we could run.

We ran through the corridors, tunnels and artificial caverns of the ship, encountering little resistance initially. The first bit was when a door EDI wanted us to go through closed right when we were about to pass through it, thankfully not trapping anyone on the other side or closing and killing someone. EDI came through though, opening another nearby door and updating our route to the shuttle. Her voice didn't betray any emotion, but I could imagine that if it did, we would hear the almost Herculean strain coming through the comm.

After that particular door, we faced a lot of resistance, almost as if the intelligence behind our enemies wanted us to go that way so we would face the most Collectors possible. And we did. Collectors of every stripe firing those annoying same weapons in very different ways, the avatar of the Collector-General throwing us around and firing off plasma like it was no tomorrow, husks and experimental husks someone dubbed 'abominations' that exploded at a whim, and to top it all off, another one of those four-legged, eye-laser-firing purple monstrosities we fought on Horizon. As we fought metre by bloody metre, spreading Collector viscera, and a disturbing amount of our own multi-coloured blood from wounds sustained, the ship itself slowly came to life around us.

We finally managed to make it to within sight of the shuttle. All that stood in our way was a veritable army of husks. Fortunately for us, we had discovered the particular weakness of these husks on Horizon: their femur regions were highly unstable when attacked with biotics. It was a laughably simple task to simply send half a dozen shockwaves down the inclined corridor to the shuttle, clearing the way quite effectively of our only foes. What we hadn't counted on was the fact that more husks simply crawled out of holes in the floor, walls and even ceiling, dropping into our path and running as only zombies can run: mindless, shrieking and utterly focused. We sent down more shockwaves and ran through this time, guns blazing as we made our way to the shuttle. The door barely had time to close before EDI was already remote-piloting the shuttle into the _Normandy_. Joker was too occupied with getting our ship moving, since the Collector ship had finished its power-up cycle. I ran up to the bridge as eerily familiar lances of yellow light lit up the darkness of the space. Joker managed to buy us some time by putting the wreck of one of the turian frigates between the ships, but it would only last until they found an appropriate vector or the wreckage was disintegrated.

Joker was too busy keeping the ship, and by extension us, alive to properly plot out an FLT escape vector, so he shouted at EDI to do it for him. Since she was only a computer program, and had no access to flight commands unless given them, I authorised her to make an emergency FTL jump to get us away from the ship that was currently firing at us. She acknowledged her brief access calmly, before engaging the mass effect core and sending us light-years away from the Collectors. To be sure we were safe, we jumped in and out of FTL several times before we found a shipping lane, the background light of which would hide our FTL trail. Joker spent at least ten minutes in a silent rage, before he calmed down enough to take control of the ship and set us on a course for Illium, which was the first relatively safe destination I could think of. I made sure EDI relinquished her access to the flight and mass effect core systems, before went up to my cabin to take off my armour once again. I had just gotten out of it, and was standing naked in my cabin about to have a shower when Joker came over the comm, telling me that the Illusive Man wanted to speak to me. I may have smiled evilly, because I certainly had words for him as well. I quickly threw on the first outfit to hand and went down to the briefing room.

The QEC activated and I stood in the holographic projector as the now hated silhouette appeared again, his glowing blue eyes the only illumination on his face. He opened with a line about EDI extracting some interesting data from the Collector ship. I was impressed despite myself that the information had been forwarded and analysed so quickly, before remembering that she had also revealed his duplicity in the entire venture. I accused him, and he tried to diplomatically explain that we were at war, and every minute wasted by us was a boon for our enemies, the Reapers. I retorted that I knew the stakes, but it was hard to be on the same side with someone I couldn't trust. I'd heard of, and even dealt with, missions and high brass who thought that it was necessary to withhold information, and it almost always ended in someone getting shot who otherwise could have avoided it. He just shrugged off my concerns, saying that if we didn't get the information we did, we might as well be dead because we would never be able to effectively fight the Collectors. He continued that he was confident in my abilities to best their trap, and said they couldn't have anticipated EDI.

Reluctantly, I found myself agreeing with his assessment of EDI. I'll admit I was less than pleased when I found out she existed, since AIs are banned and every time I've encountered one, it always ended with it trying to kill me. But she really came through in that last mission; we wouldn't have been able to escape without her. But I didn't agree with him about not telling me it was a trap. He replied that he needed the Collectors to believe they had the upper hand, and telling me could have tipped them off. I silently fumed at his presumption of my and my entire team's incompetence, and his repeated line about his confidence in my abilities.

He acceded that he wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of what he did, but returned to his smugness by saying the facts were with him. He gave me a useless platitude about such decisions needing to be made, but said this time it had paid off. According to EDI's analysis, the Reapers, and by association the Collectors, used an advanced IFF system that interacted with the relays. So all we had to do was get one.

Great! Just how in the hell are we supposed to get one of those? It's not like the Reapers are handing them out at every used ship dealership on the Citadel!

I may have complained about him not saying anything about this before I set foot on one of the only ships likely to have one we could acquire, and he replied they had only just confirmed it. But there was something interesting about his tone of voice as he said there may be another option. He told me a well-known fact that the Great Rift on Klendagon was a glancing blow from a mass accelerator, formed about 37 million years ago. He'd had teams searching for both the weapon and the target, and had found both. I perked up at the possibility of a weapon that powerful as useful against the Reapers. His next sentenced dashed that hope, saying that time, the environment and likely that massive heat of the weapon had turned it to nothing more than a featureless lump of metal on an unregarded moon systems away, but the target was far more interesting: a Reaper crippled by the weapon and floating derelict around a brown dwarf.

I remembered what Sovereign had done at the Battle of the Citadel; it was hard to imagine anything taking out one with a single shot. He replied that it was a relic from a battle waged while mammals took their first steps on Earth, a truly terrifying thought that reminded me how young we all were in galactic terms. He said it was likely the last moment of defiance of whatever species had made it while the Reapers performed their terrible harvest, which I could too readily believe. He said that while the brown dwarf itself wasn't stellar, we could expect unrelenting winds and extreme temperatures. The Reaper itself still maintained mass effect fields, which he waved away as a likely automated response. He said it was stable, but he wasn't going to lie and call it safe.

Everything he said made sense, but after what he'd just told me, I wasn't about to take a leap of faith using information he provided. He said it was no less a risk, since the team he'd sent to investigate had lost contact shortly after boarding. Their initial recon had revealed no clues, and it was too risky to commit more resources after that. Wow, chalk one up for the record books, something too risky for even Cerberus to investigate with anything less than blind zeal. But we needed that IFF, which meant that eventually I needed to go investigate myself. He said he would forward the coordinates, and told me to relay to the crew that he didn't risk their lives unnecessarily. I would, but somehow I doubted it would have a lot of weight. As the holographic projector of the QEC shutdown and the table rose up in its place, I called everyone up to the briefing room and waited.

I took my time and explained the new data to the ground team, who were still hot under the collar about the whole trap issue. Even Miranda paused for a moment, her expression one of deep thought at this new information. Jacob was definitely coming around to my way of thinking about Cerberus though, because he didn't seem convinced about the Illusive Man's sincerity, a sentiment obviously shared by Jack and Garrus.

Mordin, being one with experience in spec, and probably black, ops opined that while the issues of trust and betrayal were important, it was a necessary risk to get the information we did. Several of the others, such as Samara, Zaeed and Thane also seemed to sitting with Mordin on this opinion of ambiguity of motive and result. Even Miranda, one of his staunchest allies, wasn't immune to the overall feeling of distrust towards Cerberus in general, and its leader specifically. I just said that if he tried something like that again, the Collectors would be bumped down to number 2 on the list of enemies he'd made recently.

I turned to the blue avatar of EDI that manifested at the end of the table and asked if her analysis of the IFF data from the Collector ship would be able to work with the _Normandy_'_s _systems. She gave an almost indignant response, her emotional inflection one of the strongest I've seen from her, before she continued that she had determined the location of the Collector home world based on their navigational data. She switched the hologram of the _Normandy_ for a miniature version of the galaxy. She highlighted a section which was in the Omega Nebula, probably the Omega-4 Relay, and then the highlight moved in a curve that ended smack-dab in the galactic core. Everyone looked at it in silence for a few minutes, before Miranda broke the silence with her disbelief. Jack made a rather loud remark that we needed to reboot the AI, because no way in hell was that possible. I had faith in EDI though, and I backed her up.

Jacob tried to cite a fact everyone knew, that because of the pervasive presence of supernovas, giant stars and black holes, there was no way there was a garden world. Hell, there hasn't been a recorded garden world within 5 kilo-parsecs of the core in a thousand years. Mordin, ever quick to pose a theory, suggested that the Collectors didn't necessarily need a habitable planet, or even a planet at all, instead using an artificial station that had powerful mass effect fields and radiation shields. Miranda didn't seem convinced at the technological capabilities of the Collectors to have such a station, but I reminded her and everyone that the Collectors were just the servants of the Reapers, and we'd all seen that they were capable of; the Citadel and the mass relays being prime examples of their ability to create terrible wonders in space. Taking all this in, it suddenly became obvious why no ship ever returned from a trip through the Omega-4 Relay. EDI suggested that a logical conclusion is that there would be a small safe zone on the far side, where ships could decelerate safely. Normal relay transit would be insufficient, as the large amount of drift would almost ensure we wouldn't be able to hit the safe zone. EDI theorised that the Reaper IFF must trigger an encrypted mass transfer protocol that resulted in less drift.

Whatever the reasons why the Reaper IFF was needed, this team and the _Normandy_ were not ready to get it yet. The _Normandy_ wasn't up to a fight with a ship the size and power of the Collector vessel, and the ground team could still be better. Besides, I imagined that with the very real possibility that we wouldn't be coming home, a few people would have personal issues they needed closure from in order to fully commit. I told the team we needed to have every advantage we could find, since we were going in alone this time, no help from a fleet backing us up. Jacob was pretty gung-ho to get the IFF and take the fight to them, but at least Miranda was able to cut him off gently and stress the importance that we needed to prepare more, because even a derelict Reaper is nothing to be taken lightly.

I told the team that they were dismissed, and that I would decide upon a destination soon. If nothing else, the Collectors had caught us a few glancing blows and the systems fried in the power surge from the trap still needed to be fixed, so we'd need a dry-dock for that. If any of the ground team knew of something that would improve themselves, the team or the ship, they were to bring it to my attention and I'd have the final say in whether we used our limited resources to investigate it. With that I dismissed the crew and went upstairs to take the shower I desperately needed.

After the shower my stomach made its demands known, so I headed down to the crew deck to see what culinary surprise awaited me, with Gardner and his newfound enthusiasm. Looked like tonight was Saturday night surprise (hopefully light on the questionable meats) for the levos, and some sort of quarian semi-solid quiche for our resident dextros Garrus and Tali. I pulled up a chair as I got my meal and sat down, idly reading from a datapad I had brought down with me. Most of the crew muttered some sentiments about how it was good to see the back of the Collector ship, some how we should have fought and killed them all. None of them seemed to know about the trap that had been laid or the way we had been lead into it by the Illusive Man. I let them have their foolish notions, too tired to be bothered to correct them now. I dug out a forkful of the probably-not-kitten-or-bunny, which was delicious, and looked through some of the battle telemetry that had been recorded and analysed by EDI. Garrus and Tali interrupted me in short order, both of them telling me that they had possible ideas to make the _Normandy_ a fighting ship, rather than a scout ship.

Tali went first, describing how several engineers on the Migrant Fleet had been experimenting with new and improved types of shield emitters, particularly with the rise of torpedo-based weaponry, such as the Javelins the _Normandy_ was equipped with. She gave me a brief description - the new shields worked by rapidly oscillating shields, which would effectively redirect projectiles rather than stopping them dead, like most shields. And the risk of complete failure was low, since the emitters would revert to a standard shielding system if there was any damage.

Garrus easily segued from the way the shields worked to how the _Normandy's_ current armament of Javelins and GARDIAN lasers just wouldn't cut it against a ship the size of the Collector cruiser, not without getting in far too close for comfort. He said that before he'd left C-Sec, the turian military had managed to salvage the part of Sovereign that included the main weapon. While they had obviously taken care because of the nature of the ship itself, they had been able to reverse-engineer a weapon they had dubbed the Thanix Magneto-Hydrodynamic Cannon. Instead of the standard mass accelerator weapon used on ships, which fired singular projectiles at a suitable fraction of light speed, the Thanix delivered a stream of molten metal, typically superheavy metals like lead or uranium, in much the same way, ending up with a weapon with far more penetrative and destructive power than your standard weapon. They had originally only started with dreadnaught-sized mounts, but they had recently released the specs of a version scaled-down enough to fit on a small cruiser, or a large frigate like the _Normandy_. Both of them said that the components for these upgrades could be manufactured on the _Normandy_ itself, but the raw materials needed would be significant. I told them to forward the specs to myself and EDI, who I wanted to run the numbers for feasibility.

Just as they finished their pitch and began eating rather than talking, Jacob came over and sat down, telling me he also had an idea. He said he still had some friends in the Alliance who would tell him certain things, such as the asari recently releasing the rights to their Silaris armour, a revolutionary type of ship armour that used crushed diamond layers to effectively absorb heat, as opposed to the fairly common ablative armour, which only worked once and then cleaved off the ship itself. The only snag was the kind of plant and machinery needed to create and fit such armour to the _Normandy_, since it would have to be custom made, was not common outside the Asari Republic systems. I put this into the datapad, along with the data that Garrus and Tali had forwarded me about their ideas as well. I asked EDI to run a search on dry-dock facilities that could make, fit and possibly test these components that were outside Council space, since I didn't want to make an appearance just yet. EDI acknowledged and went silent for a few moments, before informing me that there were several cities on Illium that would suit my purposes. I browsed through the list, before I settled on Carlast.

I opened a channel up to Joker and told him to set a course for Carlast on Illium, while I finished my meal, thanked Jacob, Garrus and Tali, then returned to my cabin and made a beeline for my bed. I'm pretty sure my eyes were closed and I was well on my way to REM sleep by the time my head touched the pillow.

Once I woke up managing to feel rested, I opened up my terminal to see that several more of the ground team had also forwarded some suggestions to me. Some, like Mordin and Jack, had little ideas that would boost their effectiveness in the field, such as specialised biotic amps and finely-tuned omni-tool mods, both of which required Element Zero. We had some lying around in the cargo bay, so I sent them both authorisation to start immediately, and pointedly reminded Jack not to make any sort of weapon of mass destruction on the ship - leave it for the surface. Others, like Thane and Miranda, had suggestions that would increase the efficiency of the probe and scanning systems, neither of which was a high priority, so I shelved them for now. Samara suggested an upgrade to the thruster and sublight drive system, which was unexpected but not unwelcome from her. Even Dr Chakwas added a suggestion for a new dermal and blood fabricator, to be able to more effectively deal with the casualties she treated far too frequently, and she added a personal note they while my facial scars were healing nicely, the ones on my abdomen and thighs were not healing as quickly as she liked, and this would be able to quickly and permanently fix them. I was ready to jump, but it was very expensive, and I didn't know if we could afford it.

I gave them all to EDI to crunch the numbers, which she did in her efficient way so that her analysis was ready for me as I exited the shower. I agreed with her that the priority would have to be the shields, armour and cannons, followed by the thrusters and medical equipment as the second tier priority and the probe and scanning system upgrade as the lowest priority. That done, I waited until we were safely landed in the Carlast spaceport, made the necessary enquiries about the purchase of dry-dock time, the availability of purchasing Silaris armour, and the no-doubt exorbitant amounts I would need to pay for all of this. The number was not quite as high as I imagined, but certainly out of the budget that Cerberus had been supplying me with thus far. Thankfully, a few calls to Barla Von quickly and quietly provided us with the required 2 weeks in the Carlast dry-dock with a minimal number of questions being asked.

Once we were all settled into dry-dock and the required materials were collected and the engineering staff were getting into it, I gave all non-essential staff shore leave. It doesn't do well to stay too long on a ship, particularly one on as dangerous a mission as ours. As they all filtered out, even the ground team who didn't need or want to hang around, I pulled out my pictures of Liara on my omni-tool. I had one framed on my desk that I looked at most days, one taken while on leave after the Battle of the Citadel, but the ones I locked on my omni-tool were the real ones I treasured. The framed photo was just that, a framed and unrealistic moment in time. The ones on my omni-tool were personal, real moments, often taken straight from recordings from my helmet or ship cameras on the _Normandy_. I scrolled through them all, savouring the memories that flooded back as I did.

The ruins on Therum where we met, she had been trapped for nearly 48 hours by the time we got to her; the lack of food, water and sleep made her believe that we were hallucinations rather than real rescuers. The look on her face as she babbled on about how pretty she had imagined me right up until I pressed the button and caught her as she fell, her whole face going from a beautiful sky blue to a deep indigo-purple as she blushed in embarrassment was probably the cutest thing I had ever seen.

The small, sad smile on her face as she held a dying Benezia in her arms, the fading matriarch returning too late to her own will as she used her last breath to tell her daughter how proud she was of her, asking for forgiveness, begging not to be remembered as a traitor.

A shot of Liara, Ashley and myself around the mess table, Ash and myself laughing and a bewildered look on the asari's face, one of her eyebrow markings raised. Ash and I had been trying to teach her the meanings of some human terms and phrases, and she kept making simple errors that anyone would the first time, but we humans just found it too funny. I chuckled to myself as I remembered a time we mentioned that the hunt for Saren was turning into a wild goose chase, and she asked about the significance of chasing undomesticated waterfowl to our situation.

A series of shots taken from my omni-tool of her working on a Prothean data disc we had recovered from a habitat on an asteroid, still functional but long since abandoned by its creators. The intense concentration on her task, her pink tongue poking out slightly from her violet lips. The sudden jerk of her head, dazzling blue eyes going wide as dinner plates. Her entire body jumping away in surprise as she reacts to my intrusion. Her mock glare and indigo cheeks as she points towards the exit and looks like she wants to me use it poste haste.

A rare picture of her warm and genuine smile and laughter as I attempted to actually learn and speak some asari phrases rather than just using the translator, and probably mangled it just like she did the idioms. Maybe it was her way of getting back at me for that.

I turned off the display before the pictures went any further, knowing what lay beyond and not wanting to put myself through that torture right now. I went over to a cupboard and pulled out a glass and a bottle of old Earth Cointreau, poured out a small measure, and began to sip at it and tried not to let my memories overwhelm me. I felt the tears fall down my cheeks as I mourned for the lost girl, the innocent and naïve asari who had captured my heart two years ago with her soft-spoken voice and her gentle warm laughter, and wondered if she still existed somewhere underneath all the rage and pain she wore like armour the last time we met. I hoped, vainly I knew, that it might be possible to find that girl again, the girl whose innocence and joy in the simple things in life and somehow filled something inside of me that I had thought lost long ago in the ash and dust of Akuze.

Sadly though, today wasn't going to be that day, and with our mission it would be foolhardy in the extreme to try anything that would only end once again and kill us both. For now though, I vowed that no matter what, I would fight with my all, use everything I had to make sure that no matter how bad the odds, how terrifying the enemies I would face, I would come back for her, for Liara, my shining blue light.


	18. Flesh and Blood

Chapter 17 – Flesh and Blood

April 25, 2185

Captain's Quarters, _Normandy_ SR-2

Docked in Carlast, Illium

xXXXx

Well, it's been a few days. In the short time we have been here, Tali has crafted and largely assembled the new shield emitters, and she will begin installation and testing once she has put on all the finishing touches. Garrus has been working with EDI and Engineers Donnelly and Daniels to add the final details to the new Thanix Cannons - they should begin manufacturing the components in the next day or two. The _Normandy_ has also had the superstructure scanned in order for the new Silaris armour to be specially designed to fit the hull. I'm told that will take more than a week to produce, but should be fitted fairly quickly.

In addition to all of this work being done on the ship, I've also been on a personal mission for Jacob, and wasn't that a kick in the quad.

It all started just after the Silaris consultants had set up the hull scan. Jacob received a message on his omni-tool, and the face he made signalled it was not a welcome one. He excused himself, his part in the proceedings essentially over anyway, and went to his station in the armoury. I thought nothing more of it until six hours later, when he sent me a message asking if I had time to talk with him. I'm not known for ducking responsibility when it comes to my crew, so I headed up to the armoury to see him.

Whatever the message had been, and the bulk of it was probably only accessible on his private terminal, the hours in between hadn't sweetened his mood. Something big was weighing on his mind, because he was so focused on the terminal he didn't give me the salute he usually snapped off anytime I entered or left his personal space. He apologised when he heard be step up behind him, saying he was unfocused because of a personal matter, but it wouldn't affect his duties. Given the fact he had been holed up in the armoury for most of the daylight hours, I doubted that already.

Jacob said he didn't want to sorry about it if it turned out to be nothing, but he had, in his own words, been pinged by a family ghost. Overnight, his private log had received an update about the _Hugo Gernsback_, the ship his father served on as First Officer. It had sent out an SOS last week, reporting a crash and requesting a rescue. He leant forward on the central bench and looked askance; after all, the ship had been reported missing ten years ago. He looked back at the table's surface again saying he hadn't seen his father for three years before he went missing, and he'd buried everything but a body. The situation seemed a little strange to both of us, as he questioned the ability of an automated distress signal to stay dormant for so long.

I wondered why he didn't seem more excited that his father might be alive, I knew I would in his place. I'd give anything to know that a parent was alive out there somewhere, instead of the certain knowledge of exactly where they had died when Mindoir was attacked and precisely where they're buried in the graveyard far too full for such a young colony. He said that his father hadn't been around much to have bad memories, and it was an old, well-healed wound. He said his father was an honest man, in his own way. He taught Jacob that a man owns up to his mistakes, even if he kept making them. Whatever problems they had were a lifetime ago, and ten years is a long time to move on from the past. As far as Jacob was concerned, his father might as well still be a ghost.

But there was a hopeful lilt in his voice as he said that if his father was alive and needed help, he wanted to do it.

He also pointed out there was another reason why he was sceptical about the nature of the distress signal itself. Apparently, it had been routed to the _Normandy_ and his personal files through Cerberus filters. I asked if there were any signs that the ship had possible connections to Cerberus, and if there was any indication of who forwarded it to him. Jacob doubted the Illusive Man would let ten years pass if it was a direct operation. If there was a link between the ship and Cerberus, it was probably just about money, since Cerberus needed diverse holding to fund their projects – myself being a prime example. I grimaced at the reminder of the purpose of Project Lazarus, to bring me back from the dead. He looked away again and said that there was no traceability on whoever had sent it. Possibly someone might be fishing for favours, or looking to make him squirm, who knew with Cerberus and the crazies they tended to attract.

I asked for some background on the _Hugo Gernsback_ and its mission. He replied that it was a privately-held frigate. He'd looked over the mission brief ten years ago when it had disappeared, and nothing stood out in particular, just fairly standard research and grab operation. Basically, find an unchartered planet, stake a claim and get as big a possible before competitors moved in. I nodded, it was typical and also the way the Alliance had colonised so many planets already in the Attican Traverse, much to the chagrin of the Batarian Hegemony. It was the reason for the Skyllian Blitz, the Anhur Rebellions and the final campaign that ended on Torfan. It was easy to see how many species saw humanity as a bully when it used almost aggressive colonisation as a tactic.

He had nothing more to add, so I told him to forward the coordinates to Joker and to get ready to head out. There were only going to be engineering works on the ship for the next fortnight, which didn't need me as long as I left Miranda to do her duty as XO. I returned Jacob's salute, and then left to round up a team.

My first stop was the bridge, informing Joker to set the shuttle up with the coordinates he had just received. I also informed him that his presence was mandatory, and ribbed him that it might be good for him to get away from the AI-infested ship for a day or two. He grumbled a bit, but agreed to it in the end after a few joking back-and-forths between us. I'm glad that our relationship is back to trusting each other enough to make jokes again. I know he'll be the professional when he needs to pilot the ship, about the only thing he does take seriously.

My second stop was to recruit some talent from the ground team. I decided to pick Zaeed for his sheer experience in unknown ground situations and battles, Kasumi for her technical talent, and Samara for her centuries of battle knowledge. Besides, having another biotic was never a bad thing in my opinion. The away team decided upon and informed, I went and made everyone else aware of the upcoming mission. Miranda didn't even blink as I told her I was heading the away team and leaving her in charge as XO, but there was a momentary flash of emotion as I told her why. The flash was barely long enough to recognise, but it was there. It made me wonder if she was worried about possible collusion between Jacob and I, or something else related to their combined past. I let it slide, since there was nothing to be gained from commenting on it now.

Garrus, Tali, EDI and the engineers were having a technical meeting on the deck below, working out how and what needed to be adjusted in the power and propulsion systems to make sure the new weapons, shields and armour would integrate seamlessly into the ship. They didn't seem fazed that I was leaving them for a day or two, though Garrus jokingly asked why he wasn't invited to the shootout. I mock-seriously replied that there was always a chance that one day I'd go somewhere and not have to shoot or be shot at. We both maintained a straight face for about three seconds before we burst out laughing, and he wished me luck in finding this mythical land of which I could only dream. Grunt seemed disappointed that he wasn't going, but he said it was okay because he was going to investigate something in the city anyway. I made a mental note to let Miranda know so she could keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

I gingerly walked downstairs to the undercroft, Jack's little hideaway, to let her know what was up. Jack was a volatile personality at the best of times, so even though she treated me with respect and followed orders in the field, to a point, she was not to be disturbed lightly. I walked down the stairs on the portside and could hear some muffled grunting, which could mean she was working out, listening to her music, or perhaps swearing as she tried to assemble the fine detail on her new amp. I quietly opened the manual door slightly, which gave me a good view of her cot. After a quick peek, I shut the door as quickly and silently as possible and legged it out of there, hoping that she never learned what I had seen in that split second glance.

It wasn't so much that she was surly, her usual amount or some extra little bit she reserved for any day ending in 'y'. It wasn't that she was doing anything that a normal person might interrupt if they had a burning question, such as working out, technical work, or even sketching or poetry.

It was the fact that she was divested of what little clothing she usually wore, had one hand squeezing a breast and the other working a bright blue dildo in and out between her legs. Her entire body was also encased in the bright blue fire that indicated biotics at work, though intentional or not I'm not going to try and speculate on. Thankfully her eyes were closed so she didn't see me, but that didn't mean that my self-preservation instinct didn't kick into high gear. I got myself out of there, red-faced and shaking at what would have been a near-death experience had I been caught.

After taking a few death breaths, and hoping that I never had to encounter her in any kind of sexual situation ever again, I asked the engineers to inform Jack of the mission when she next appeared. The task of informing the crew completed, I went up to my cabin to grab my armour and swung past the armoury to grab my weapons. After a quick trip to the mess to grab enough food for a small team for three days, I then went down to the garage to wait for my team and pilot. Jacob was already there, a stern expression on his face. The rest of the team filtered in the next ten minutes, with Joker making up the rear, an ensign carrying his bag.

We spent ten hours jumping from relay to relay until we ended up in the Alpha Draconis system, headed towards the garden world known only as 2175 Aeia. A quick scan from orbit for the distress call pinpointed the origin as a coastal region on a medium-sized continent near the equator, but high levels of metal ores in the area made scanning for life forms and technology unreliable. We suited up in our armour - our omni-tool and hardsuit computers would be useful if we found any working computers, and there was always the possibility of hostile native creatures. Atmospheric scans showed that there was a slightly higher oxygen concentration in the air, about 25% compared to earth normal 21%, so we'd feel a slight increase in out metabolism and combat awareness. Joker piloted us down to a clearing with a visual on the crashed ship, and then took to the air once more, saying he'd try and get a more reliable scan and look around for any signs of the missing crew.

We walked towards the ship at a calm pace, omni-tool scans showing minimal power in the ship itself. As we got closer, it was clear that the ship had crashed into the shoreline here, but there were signs of salvage by the crew and the distress beacon VI interface flickered on and off on the shore. Jacob wondered why the beacon was only now active – the crew would have tried to get it up and running as soon as possible. As we approached, we could hear the beacon playing a message on repeat. It warned that the local flora was chemically incompatible with human physiology, but it jumped and some of the words skipped and jittered around certain syllables as the damaged interface flickered.

I asked aloud why the crew had waited years to signal, and the VI recognised the speech and latched onto it as a question. It informed the team that the beacon had been paused for nearly nine years, but the reason why deleted by Acting-Captain Ronald Taylor. Jacob remarked that his father was First Officer, not the captain. The VI responded that he was promoted under emergency field protocols, and listed unsafe deceleration, the local food and neural decay, and beacon activation protocols as other flagged issues. We heard the ship groan as the waves slowly broke against its rusting hull.

I would get around to the other issues, but I wanted to know why the beacon was silent for so long and only activated recently. It responded that the beacon became functional almost a year after the crash, which it helpfully indicated was unscheduled. The beacon was then paused, and only remotely triggered nine years later by Taylor. Again, no reason was given as he had deleted it.

When prompted about the crash itself, the VI stated that following an unspecified impact and sublight drive failure, the ship descended at an unsafe speed four and a half times faster than theoretically recommended, followed by decelerating at 8 times greater than theoretical approach velocity, sustaining significant damage. It clarified the comparison to theoretical velocities because the _Hugo Gernsback_ was constructed in an orbital dock, and never meant to actually land planet-side. Now that the crash and the reason for the beacon silence were somewhat clearer, I asked about survivors and Acting-Captain Taylor. The VI said that the crash had killed Captain Fairchild, and Taylor was promoted in the field. Jacob pressed the VI for his current location with anger in his voice, but the VI did not have that information.

I was almost hesitant as I asked about about the local food and the neural decay it mentioned. The VI replied that the local flora caused a chemical imbalance in the brain, with the effects being noticed after seven days regardless of preparation or decontamination. The effects were largely centred on higher cognitive function, like speech, reading, and long-term memory. The decay was cumulative and significant within a month.

I could only imagine what ten years of it could do to a human mind. There was also no data on whether the impacts were permanent, as data collection was not completed. Given their brains were turning to mush while they were collecting it, by the end they would either have forgotten why they were running the tests, or just forgotten altogether.

I suggested we move out, and Jacob said we should check the ship for any signs of the crew's location. He said his father had waited nine years to activate the beacon – perhaps a signal that the food had affected him as well. I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, but Zaeed played the devil's advocate and said that avoiding it for a decade was a bit much to swallow. We walked over to the bridge that went from the shore to the ship itself, a sign that at least they had been able to get off the ship relatively successfully. Most of the equipment was non-functional after so much exposure to moisture and little to no maintenance, but Kasumi was able to extract some partial audio log recordings from some of the ship officers. All of them were unsettling.

The first one we found was a male officer talking about how a certain female member had always rebuffed his advances, even threatening to report him, but now she was 'innocent,' and his tone of voice was one used only by sleazy predators. He went on about how they were stuck here now, and they might as well enjoy it. Thankfully the recording degraded there, otherwise I would have shot the computer.

We found another one a little further on made by the ship's doctor, a woman's voice sounding increasingly desperate as she struggled to remember her daughter's name and face. In a frightened whisper, she said they needed to hurry so they could get out, so she could think and remember. The last one we found was also the most degraded, probably made by one of the bridge staff. A woman's voice said that this hadn't been a military ship; just bumping up the command line didn't work. The next sentence was pretty garbled, but we managed to make out that her opinion of Taylor and his ability to command the crew's respect was low, and doubted he could get it.

We left the ship, and found one last recording in an old laptop near the beacon itself, which was now mercifully silent. There was no identifier, but it had to have been an officer. It went on about how he couldn't go along with the horrible treatment of the crew any longer. The condition they were in meant they no longer understood what was happening to them. The voice said that if you distracted them for two seconds, they forgot what happened before the bruises showed. He obviously was taking a stand, but I felt sick to my stomach. I had a pretty good idea of what had gone down here, and no decent human would have gone along with it. The end of the recording sounded like he was finally finding his conscience, but any jury would have convicted him. The men had obviously taken advantage of the women here, abused rank and power, and according to this, had been physically, and probably sexually abusive. My hand itched to pull out a weapon so I could find this man and bring him to justice, but not before I'd laid hands on him first. In that moment, I rather hoped he would resist arrest – not a proud thought.

There wasn't much to go on regarding the location of the crew now, except a vague trail of parts too damaged to be salvaged anymore. Eventually we came across a series of old containers and barrels long emptied of their contents, but the first sign of hope we had seen thus far: a woman. Her clothes were threadbare and torn in places, brown as the dirt, but still better than nothing given that she had likely fallen victim to the local food toxicity. She approached hesitantly, given that we were in armour and had an impressive array of weapons between us. She spoke haltingly, as if it was painful or difficult to remember how to form the words. She had obviously seen our shuttle, and said we had "come from the sky". The "leader had said someone would come", and "though he delayed, he still had power". She mentioned that "others" would have seen our "star", and the "hunters" would not let us help "him". It didn't make much sense at the time, but with the benefit of hindsight, it became clear what she was talking about.

I told her to slow down as she wasn't making any sense. She tried to be clearer, saying she had forgotten the words. She managed to get across that "he" was their leader, and they served so they could return home. But some of "them" were cast out and wanted to fight him. "He" had exiled them, so they hunted his machines and those who helped him. It was at that point that I saw a man behind her lining up a shot at her back, so I tackled the poor woman to the ground behind an old crate and pulled out my weapon. She cowered in fear and said they were the "hunters", and wouldn't stop until the "leader" was dead. I shouted out that they had one chance to surrender or we would open fire.

He was quickly backed up by several other men, all outfitted in clothes similar to the woman, old and on the brink of collapse due to sheer wear. All were sporting old weapons that couldn't have been maintained very well over the years. Still, a lucky shot can end anyone's day, so we weren't going to be taking any chances. The leader of this little gang shouted at his men to kill us, calling us "agents of the liar". Now, while it may be true that the Illusive Man is possibly the single most deceitful person I have ever had the displeasure of knowing, I somehow didn't think that was what he meant.

I told my team to shoot to wound, not kill. Fortunately for us, their equipment was almost a weapon in our favour, since two of them exploded after a few shots, wounding but not killing their former wielders. It wasn't a hard task to use biotics to charge into a man and punch him in the jaw, then watch the eyes roll back in his head as he went unconscious. Several of my team shot at the shoulders and arms of their assailants, effectively disarming them, while Jacob and Samara either threw them to the ground or trapped them in a stasis field. Once they were all subdued we tied their hands and applied medi-gel so they wouldn't suffer any permanent wounds, then left them next to the woman. She was near catatonic, mumbling about wanting to go home, so I cracked open a field emergency kit and gave her a mild sedative that would knock her out for about 6 hours.

Jacob said that his father wouldn't have let this happen, and we needed to push on and find someone who could explain all this. We followed the path of discarded technology until we came across what had once been a security mech, like the ones we'd encountered on Freedom's progress. This one was a lot older though, several versions behind the current model, and had been stripped for parts and left here.

No sooner had we passed the scrapped mech when a trio of mechs came around the corner of the headland, took one look at us and the weapons we carried, and became hostile. We took them down without taking damage to our shields, riddling them with holes and causing them to explode into a shower of useless metal and plastic.

We went over to investigate where they had come from, and found what looked to be some kind of settlement along a sheltered section of headland. We could see several people milling around, not doing anything useful by the look of it. Jacob hoped they were friendlier than the beach group, because he wanted answers. We walked into the settlement, where the lack of drawn weapons meant I put my own away. Most of the team did as well, except Zaeed who kept a loose grip on his Revenant. As we walked into the body of the settlement, mostly just old tents and a few permanent walls to make lean-tos, many of the settlers turned to look at us briefly, but made no move to either get closer or move away.

Samara noted that they were all wearing similar clothing to the ones from the beach, possibly the remains of a uniform. As we walked in deeper, we could see that there were about 20 people living here, and they were all women. I wondered aloud if the neural decay affected genders differently, making men violent and women calm, which Samara said was possible. We had now reached what passed for the centre of the settlement, where Jacob commented that the effects of the food didn't matter, as long as someone here could tell him what his father had to do with the situation.

A woman sitting by a cooking fire looked towards Jacob as he spoke, and gasped. She stepped back in shock, and told Jacob he had "his face", and that his promises to call the sky were hollow. Another woman said that "he" had forced them to eat, to decay, before denouncing Jacob as "cursed with his face". I remarked glibly on the way he had charmed them, but he angrily ignored my attempt at levity. If he was cursed with "his face", then the women no doubt meant his father, who sounded like he had forced the crew to eat the local flora and fall into mental decay. This was confirmed by looking at a crate next to the fire, filled with boxes of food no longer good to eat, if the smell and date labels were to be believed.

I told Jacob to wait with the rest of the team to see if I could get anything more out these women by myself, since I was one and they really didn't seem to like him. Most of them didn't reveal anything useful, just more on the theme of how Jacob had his father's face, about how Taylor had lied to them about "calling the sky"; though some were less far gone than others. One of the women said she wouldn't talk to me because she didn't want to be punished. One was less apprehensive about Taylor, saying that he protected her, and she pleased him like he demanded. I shuddered at the obvious abuse of power and possible Stockholm syndrome this woman had been subjected to.

I rejoined the team and we headed towards the edge of the settlement, where the crew had erected something akin to a human effigy out of ship parts. Jacob was incensed, saying someone had to push them to make that, that it was borderline worship. As we passed it more mechs noticed our weapons and fought us, but like the previous ones they were on the verge of failure, so it only took a few shots to neutralise that threat. After the mechs were taken care of, one of the women approached us. Her clothes were different, a little better taken care of and cut slightly differently. Her voice seemed familiar as she repeated the line about Jacob's face, but it wasn't until she handed him a datapad that I recognised where from. She had been the ship's doctor, and she told us with almost painful hope in her voice that this datapad showed what had happened to them all here, but she couldn't read it anymore because she had forgotten how.

Jacob looked through it, taking time to scroll back to the start and then skimming it. He informed us it was a crew logbook, starting from about the time of the crash. He summarised that the crew had been concerned about the beacon repairs. They thought they were taking too long and feared they'd run out of supplies before rescue. Taylor had restricted the ship food for himself and the other officers so they wouldn't be affected, with everyone else just having to lump it and hope for treatment later. From the casualty list, it was a decision that didn't garner popular support, and Taylor and the officers turned the mechs on them. Sadly, I'd seen this kind of thing before. Otherwise good men and women given a command position they hadn't earned or weren't ready for often had to resort to violence to establish order.

Jacob scrolled down a little further, saying that it hadn't stopped at the one incident. There were more, though thankfully light on casualties and tending more towards harsh, often corporal punishment. Jacob compared the crew's treatment to cattle, or toys, and I don't know which one sickened me more. After a year, all the non-officer males were flagged as 'exiled' or dead, and the women assigned to officers like pets or possessions.

I asked if the log stated why the women were separated, but apparently it turned to gibberish. I scowled then at the pathetic reversion to a ridiculous patriarchy like this. I mean come on, it's the 22nd century! Women often outnumber men in power roles in a number of industrial and governmental areas, account for half of the total force of the Alliance military, and yet are still relegated to second-class the moment situations like this come about. As if we are less capable. I mean, some of it may have been due to the effects of the local food on brain function, but there are some lines that really shouldn't be regressed across.

After that comment in the data pad, the officers appeared in the casualty list. It looked like Taylor had grown to enjoy the power he had abused, and possibly the log from the beach was an officer finding his conscience too late and confronting Taylor, only to be met with lethal force.

I asked if there was anything about whether the effect of the neural decay could be treated, but there was nothing. Jacob mused, and I agreed, that keeping the good food for the people who could actually fix the beacon was the right call, but waiting so long to activate it stunk of abuse of the power that had obviously set in. There was no information given, or at least nothing coherent, about the state of the males that were exiled, but looking around Jacob guessed that the 'hunter' thing was recent, as there was little sign of violence around the settlement. What had happened here was obviously a crime, and Taylor was about to get justice handed to him care of my fist.

There was a barricade further in, just a pile of old scrap and crates. We probably could have climbed it or gone around it, but the former risked injury due to the sharp and jagged edges visible, and the latter would probably only get us lost in the jungle that sloped away inland. In the end, we gathered up as many of the mech parts that hadn't exploded as we could, rigged in one of Zaeed's grenades, wired it all up and then stood back to watch the fireworks. The explosion obviously got Taylor's attention, as he started broadcasting on an open channel about how his crew went insane, and how he'd only just gotten free from them. If I wasn't naturally sceptical, hadn't seen the state of the place and the crew, and hadn't found all the incriminating evidence, I might have just believed him. He put on a good act, but none of us were convinced, especially not Jacob.

We came across a couple of bodies just after the barricade. One was extremely old, now little more than a skeleton barely holding together, that had been lashed to a tree. It had probably been placed there as a warning, or an example. Then there were four new ones in various states of decay, all dressed like the hunters and dumped there unceremoniously. They had obviously been fighting back. We walked up to another area with old tents and crates, probably where the officers had bunked nine years ago. More out dated and dilapidated mechs started firing at us, but between three biotics who threw them around like so many leaves on the wind, Kasumi hacking and overloading their systems and Zaeed mowing them down with this Revenant, they didn't stand a chance. Taylor came over the open channel again during the fight, saying he'd had to automate the defence mechs after the crew turned violent and attacked him. Taylor sadly said he'd had no other choice. Jacob summed it up perfectly as he blew the head off a mech with his shotgun, quietly saying he'd had plenty of choices, Taylor just picked the wrong ones. And now that he'd had his fun and it was getting too much for him, he'd hit the panic button knowing that he'd be believed over a bunch of mentally regressed, dirty crew.

We continued along the beach that had now turned into a headland cliff, until we reached a fairly well set-up area. This shelter had walls made out of what looked like panels of the crashed ship's hull, and several shade cloths hung over it. Taylor came over the comm warning us that the only obstacle left was his personal guard. He claimed it had taken years to train them against the effects of the neural decay, and we'd have to fight them to rescue him. I tuned out the channel and gave the same orders that I'd given during the encounter with the hunters, shoot to wound and disarm, not kill.

We took cover and I sent Kasumi to scout ahead. She grumbled about how she was more suited to urban infiltration than jungle camouflage, but she went ahead anyway, cloaking just before she would be seen and returning about a minute later. She informed us there were half a dozen men, some with functional omni-tools. They also had one very old, but probably still functional early-model YMIR mech, just like on Freedom's Progress. I nodded and switched over to my SMG, which was good for attacking shields. I asked Kasumi to give everyone a flashbang, took a peek around the corner and designated the targets. Everyone would be given a target for the flashbang, which would hopefully knock them out long enough for us to take care of the mech and then secure them so they couldn't hurt themselves.

On my command, six flashbangs made silent arcs towards their targets, before there were unbearably loud and bright explosions. Six shrieks and the sound of falling bodies was accompanied by an auto-cannon cycling up to the optimum RPM before unleashing a near-constant stream of large-calibre impacts in our direction. We waited until the cannon revved down to cool, before rushing in and separating to reduce the target concentration. Of course, the laws of combat causality being what they were, the functional missile arm targeted me. I just managed to dodge away from the missile, but the impact blast sent me off my feet and into a heavy crate, dazing me for a few seconds. Luckily, it decided to change target to Zaeed, who along with Samara was focusing the fire of his assault rifle into its back. The mech stomped around, the shield draining with every impact, before spraying rounds from the auto-cannon back in their general direction, forcing them back into cover.

I heard a moan next to my foot, and saw one of the guards open his eyes. He saw me and reached for a weapon, but my fist was faster as it crashed into his face, knocking him out. As I pulled out my shotgun and lined up a shot, the shields on the mech came down and shots from my team began to spark against the mech's thick armour. Zaeed threw a plasma grenade in an attempt to burn it off, while Samara, Jacob and I used our biotics to create warp fields or biotic explosions, rocking the massive machine with each one.

The armour around the head was the first to be compromised, so I used my biotics to charge the mech once it was facing my direction. Time slowed down as I raced across the empty space and collided with the head, watching as the metal and plastic of the circuitry blew apart like a sandcastle in a gale. As my perception returned to realtime I landed roughly on top of the headless former menace, but not before the beeping started. I remembered the last time I had decapitated one of these on Zorya, and looked up to see Zaeed waving to me to get into cover. I was already woozy, but impending explosions tend to focus you, so I clapped my hands again and charged to the empty spot right next to him, with just enough time to slide into cover before the mech went up in a huge ball of fire, light and heat. Once the explosion had died down, we went around and bound the hands of all the guards, all of whom were unharmed by both the blast and our flashbangs.

Finally, there was only a locked door between us and the ultimate answer to the fate of Ronald Taylor. Kasumi snorted at the out-dated and simple lock, even going so far as to close her eyes while she sliced it apart like suet. As the door opened we got our first look at our quarry, and Taylor his first at his 'rescuers.'

He apologised for making us fight the excuse for security he'd put in place, but said he knew a real squad would blow through it like so much dead grass. I just walked past him and out onto a little balcony overlooking a distant natural harbour, ignoring him and his attempt to belittle his own crew. He waited for a few awkward seconds before saying he'd get me something nice when he got back to Alliance space, since he'd probably have some back-pay coming.

Jacob began the grilling, asking him about the crew. Taylor said they were a total loss, arguing that the local food had turned them wild, and they'd propped him up in some kind of worship or ritual behaviour. He said waiting for a chance to signal had been hell. Jacob hissed, daring him to change his story to something more believable. Taylor asked me if I let all my crew talk back like that, and then hesitantly asking who I was, since I hadn't introduced myself. I turned to face him and introduced myself, before saying that he already knew 'Mr Taylor.' He perked up in recognition, before denying the possibility that the man non-verbally threatening to hit him was his own son.

Jacob brought out the datapad the doctor had given us and asked Taylor why it couldn't be him, and asked if the last ten years would look any better to anyone else. Taylor looked at the datapad and his face fell as his realised his carefully constructed house of cards was about to fall around his ears. He looked up again, his voice softer and subdued as he tried to explain that the realities of command were too much for him, that he wasn't ready. He argued that he'd taught Jacob right from wrong before he'd left, and hoped to leave it at that. I wasn't having it, and I told him that at some point, he and he alone had chosen to do what he had done to the crew. Jacob roared and closed the distance to Taylor, daring him to tell us all what the moment was, what the reason could be that he would betray his own crew. I would have bet money that Jacob would have started punching, but he managed to restrain himself. As Taylor took a step back and tried to compose himself, I heard a twig snap, and saw a group of hunters taking advantage of the destroyed defences. They didn't try to get too close, but they were a definite presence.

Taylor cleared his throat and said that in the beginning there had been mutiny because of the decision to restrict food. They'd resorted to violence to keep order. Once things settled and decay set in, the officers made sure the crew was comfortable. He said some of the crew seemed happier, citing the old adage that ignorance is bliss. The crew took instructions easily almost like an instinct, and pure authority was easy, at first.

Months in, inhibitions started to fall, and the crew got territorial. They lost understanding of rank and protocol, so the officers had to establish dominance. He said that after a while the perks seemed normal. It was now my turn to restrain myself and Kasumi from enacting violence upon him. As I struggled to hold the surprisingly strong little Japanese girl, I noticed the hunters gathering, edging closer. I nodded to Samara and Zaeed to keep them back, which they did by pulling out their assault rifles and looking suitably menacing.

Jacob rounded on his father once more, accusing him of playing in a juvenile harem fantasy for ten years. Taylor found some more of the original force of his voice, though lost all of the welcoming overtones, as he said that he couldn't point exactly where it went wrong, but when the beacon was ready, revealing what had happened didn't seem like a good idea. I asked him about the other officers. He confirmed my theory that one of the others found his conscience late in the game, but Taylor was the one with the mechs at the end of the day. He said he'd gotten a little basic in setting examples, but he was kind to them once it settled down. He said it seemed like he'd earned some peace. Jacob spat at him that he fought over people like toys or objects.

I looked around at his piles of empty food containers, and summed up that he knew it had to end one day. He replied easily that dining for one could really stretch things out, and there were worse retirement plans than joining the rest of the crew in mind-numbing decay. But the hunters had put a hole in that plan, since dumb or not, he'd feel it if they got their hands on him. They wanted blood, and he preferred to keep it. I asked why the hunters had become a problem only now, and Taylor said he didn't know. The planet had some strange cycles - he'd seen new plants and weather patterns that he hadn't seen before, so maybe this triggered it.

I asked him why, if nothing else, he didn't want to escape for the sake of family nine years ago. He looked away ashamed and said he'd given Jacob a good start, and that he was better off not following in his steps. They'd both figured that out long ago, before he'd taken jobs in deep space. And after the way things had ended here, he had thought it best to just disappear.

All things considered, I wasn't going to let this slide, and I knew most of us wouldn't mind getting in a few hits of our own, but I didn't trust anyone here to stop now that we knew the truth. Before I could blink, Jacob had pulled out his pistol, aiming it right between the eyes of the man he used to call his father. Taylor reacted by pulling up his hands in the universal sign of unarmed submission. Jacob asked me what kind of math would ever balance the destruction of lives that had taken place here. He spat in disgust and said Taylor was lucky that he wasn't even worth pulling the trigger. As he holstered the gun he turned and started walking away, saying Taylor wasn't any father he remembered.

As he walked away I pulled up my omni-tool and fashioned a pair of old-fashioned shackles, rather than the plastic ties we'd been using on the hunters. I roughly pulled his arms behind his back, cuffed him and then pushed against his knees, saying that for every year he'd spent here reigning over his fantasy, he'd have ten to think about it. Jacob was apparently still close enough to hear, as he shouted back that there wouldn't be enough time left in the galaxy, because the man who did this didn't know right from wrong. Taylor shouted that he was sorry, that he'd done the best he could, but Jacob's receding voice shouted in reply that he was ten years past believing that.

The hunters moved aside as Jacob passed them, but came closer now that Taylor was on the ground. One of them felt bold enough to try and raise his weapon, and I yanked it out of his hands with a controlled biotic pull. Sadly, Taylor had one thing right, they didn't understand complex ideas anymore, and wouldn't get beyond the idea of killing Taylor until they were treated. I pulled out my shotgun and fired a shot into the air to get their attention. I told them that Taylor had been dealt with, but they were not to lay a hand on him. The man who until recently had a weapon shouted that the liar must be punished. I told them he would be, but not by them. They didn't like this, and tried to charge at us. I charged right back at them, blurring with speed as I pulled up short of impacting with any of them, the combination of the physical shockwave as I returned to normal space and the mental shockwave of seeing me essentially teleport enough to stop them in their tracks. I yelled at them that Taylor was mine, and anyone who tried anything would be shot. I told them that they could be tied up as well, or they could go and make sure the women were kept safe. I hoped they would take the second option, but seeing the focus of years of hatred and abuse tied up and vulnerable was too much for them. They tried to charge again, and I just called out Kasumi's name.

Thankfully she understood my thinking, as a flashbang grenade dropped right in front of me and exploded. I escaped the worst of it by activating my hardsuit's sonic dampeners and closing my eyes, but the charging hunters got the full force, falling screaming to the ground, hands trying to cover both eyes and ears at the same time and failing. I fashioned more ties and bound their hands behind their backs to prevent them trying anything stupid. I opened the channel to Jacob, asking if Joker had landed yet, and he replied that he just touched down. I told the team to get the hunters and Taylor on their feet, before marching them to the shuttle and taking them all down to the women. Jacob and Joker then went to pick up the woman and the hunters from the beach, while I tried to explain to the most lucid of the women that they would soon be returning to the sky.

Once Joker returned with the rest of them, I asked Kasumi to prepare an anonymous message for the Alliance to send a ship to pick these people up. Anderson had said that the Alliance had heard some nasty rumours about me, and I wasn't yet prepared to see if my reputation would win over their duty to detain and interrogate me at length. Ten minutes later the message was sent. The hunters had been placed in an old container, Taylor secluded in another area of the camp, the women looked happier and we'd given them some medical supplies. Sadly, we didn't have enough food on the shuttle to give them all a decent, non-brain-impairing meal, but we'd done the best we could. As the shuttle took off, Joker received a confirmation message that the Alliance cruiser SSV _Canberra_ was en route, ETA 12 hours. I told Joker not to even give them the tail-lights as we hit FTL and made our long journey back to Illium.

The long hours spent at FTL and jumping through the relays were silent, with Jacob silently fuming in the corner of the shuttle, rebuffing any attempts to talk to him, even by Kasumi. He was cold, but polite, as he asked us each in turn to be left alone with his thoughts. I couldn't blame him; I knew in his place I would be trying to forget what had happened today and solidify the good memories of his father. I slept for most of the trip, and woke up just as we were landing back in the _Normandy's _shuttle hold. The rest of the team got off and went to perform whatever ritual they did when returning to the ship, but Jacob just sat there, but with a determined expression on his face instead of the usual stoic one. I gave him a long, calculating look, before I went up to stow my weapons and armour in my locker.

As I was about to start reading the reports Miranda had prepared while I was gone, EDI informed me that Jacob was attempting to use the QEC to talk to the Illusive Man. I went down one level and walked into the briefing room in time to see Jacob standing in the holographic projection grid, asking the Illusive Man what he meant when he said it wasn't him. I walked up beside him, keen to hear the conversation, but also to let the Illusive Man know I was there. He was sitting in his chair smoking as he replied to Jacob that if he had been the one to inform him about the _Hugo Gernsback_, he would be smiling at Jacob's resolution of the situation. It would take a blind man to miss the fact that he was actually frowning, though I found myself idly wondering if he actually ever did smile.

Given the way everything had turned out, I asked the Illusive Man why we trust his word on that, given the way most of Cerberus seemed to operate. His voice was like a cold wind on a bald mountain as he said I knew very little about him, and not to presume to understand his intentions. Cerberus to him was ultimately about humanity, and his people were valuable. I couldn't help but notice the particular choice of words.

Jacob was getting frustrated. As he loudly asked the Illusive Man if he did know who had sent the message, we missed the sound of the door opening. It was only as Miranda stepped into my peripheral vision and said that she had sent the message that we realised there was a fourth person in the conversation.

There were a few awkward seconds as Jacob processed the admission. I asked if it was meant to be a favour, or to be something more akin to Schadenfreude. Miranda responded that what Jacob had done with it, and how he looked into the meaning of the message was his business. She paused for a second, and actually looked vulnerable as her voice softened when she said that there was a time when these things mattered to him. She elaborated that sending along the information about the ship seemed like keeping an old promise, and she kept her promises. Suddenly rediscovering the feeling of being a third wheel intruding on some couple, I was almost relieved when the Illusive Man said he would talk to Miranda about her actions later in private. He cordially acknowledged Jacob and I before shutting off the connection. As the orange grid dissipated, Miranda looked at Jacob with part sadness, part regret, before walking off. I'm sure that by the time the door opened her face was unreadable again.

I asked Jacob if he'd had any idea that Miranda was the informant. He replied that it hadn't occurred to him. She apparently had a good memory, if a bit selective. Jacob sighed wistfully that he hadn't thought about those days in a long time. He confided that he couldn't figure which promise she meant, and wasn't sure he wanted to know. In his opinion, Miranda required a better man than himself.

I asked him if he was alright with how it had all ended. He was a lot more controlled and balanced as he said that Taylor could rot in prison, because it wouldn't change the man he was now. He'd already mourned the man his father used to be a long time ago. The man he knew was a good enough father that even he couldn't screw up what he had taught his son. I nodded and said we had better get back to work. He said he was ready, though didn't move from where he was standing. I turned around and took a step before he called my name and thanked me, and I told him he was welcome.

I went down to the engineering deck to check with Tali and the other engineers on progress of the ship works. I found Tali in the standard engineering pose: lying down and buried hip-deep in a conduit fiddling with something or another while Donnelly monitored the power system and relayed her information. Between the two of them they managed to tell me that the four of the required six new shield emitters had been installed and passed the preliminary tests, but they needed to finish installing the other two before they could test them all in concert to see if the cyclonic effect would work.

Donnelly informed me that Garrus had mostly been working on the Thanix cannons, shuffling between the hold where he was creating and assembling the parts and the main battery where he was beginning to install them. He hadn't been talking to Donnelly much yet, though that would likely change once he connected the cannon's main conduit to the ship's power supply. Donnelly had noticed however that Garrus' work seemed to have slowed down recently, and he was awfully distracted.

Donnelly also helpfully informed me that Miranda had found, or likely merely requested from the Illusive Man, enough funding to set up the new thrusters and the medical equipment we had requested. Daniels was working on the thrusters as we spoke, and Dr Chakwas had installed and connected the medical equipment, and just needed to finish testing before it was ready. I thanked him for the update as Tali got his attention, and I went back upstairs. As I passed the staircase leading down to Jack's undercroft I couldn't help but remember the last time I'd seen her. I tried to shake the image from my head, but this only lead to my body reminding that it had been a long time since it had felt that way, and deciding to give me a reminder of what it felt like to be aroused.

I tried to ignore the feeling of heat between my legs as I went over to the medbay. When I got there Kelly was just pulling her shirt down over her shoulders, and Karin looked up to see who was coming in, smiling when she saw my face. Kelly turned around and said that there were some messages for me while I'd been gone, and both Garrus and Thane had received news and had subsequently let her know that they wanted to see me personally. I thanked her and then turned to the good doctor. She nodded without asking what I wanted, turning the windows opaque and locking the door as it shut behind Kelly. She asked if I had heard about the new equipment she had gotten, gesturing towards it in the far corner. I replied that Donnelly had informed me it had been installed. Karin said that it was now ready for its first use if I was prepared. She said that with the level of scarring still present over my entire body, the procedure would take several hours, and I would need to be sedated so I wouldn't move. I told her that sounded fine, but there were things I needed to do so I would be back after dinner.

I left and went back up to my cabin to read all of the reports that were waiting for me, as well as the messages. There was one from Miranda's sister Oriana thanking me, and also revealing that Miranda was probably reading my emails. I don't know whether to chuckle or shake my head at that, so I did both. I went back down to dinner when the time came, another fine dish having been prepared by Gardner. Jacob nodded appreciatively in my direction, before turning back into the conversation that was going on between Kasumi, Grunt and himself. I sat down and ate my meal quietly, when Garrus and Thane both approached me almost simultaneously. I told them I knew they wanted to talk, but I wasn't up for it tonight. I would be happy to talk to them in the morning, but I had what was probably going to be a rough night ahead of me, nodding my head towards the medbay. Garrus glanced over and then back to me, at one of the scars lacing its way down my arm. He nodded in understanding, and they both left me in peace.

After the meal I went over to the medbay where Karin was already warming up the machine. She turned the windows again and locked the door. She told me to undress and lay down on the bed closest to the machine. I slid off my clothes, placing them in the bag she offered, and laid down on the bed, the cool surface causing my skin to prickle with goosebumps. There was a cold feeling as Karin rubbed my arm with alcohol, saying she was going to give me an injection that should knock me out for six to eight hours. While I was under the machine would repair my skin, which shouldn't take more than four hours. She said she would check in overnight and in the morning, but she expected I would wake up with the smooth skin all women dream about. I smiled at that as I felt the pinprick of the needle breaking the skin, and the slightly cool sensation as she pressed down the plunger, and then nodded off into a peaceful and dreamless sleep.


End file.
